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  Black July 1983:
the Charge is Genocide
President Jayawardene accedes to the the
'clamour' and the 'natural request' of the Sinhala people and enacts
Sixth Amendment to Sri Lanka Constitution which
violates freedom of expression and unseats
Tamil MPs...
In early August, the Sri Lanka government acceded to that which its President had
earlier described as the 'clamour' and the 'natural request' of the Sinhala people, and
announced that it would take steps to amend the Constitution so that "those seeking
partition will lose their civic rights, and cannot hold office, cannot practise
professions, join movements or organisations". The
Sixth Amendment to the
Constitution was rushed through Parliament and gave effect to the 'response' of the
government of Sri Lanka to the July attack on the Tamils.
Then Sri Lanka Prime Minister, R.Premadasa speaking on the debate on the 6th Amendment
in the Sri Lanka Parliament on 4 August 1983 said:
''The purpose (of the Amendment) is to provide the severest punishment to those who
advocate or attempt to establish a separate State... Accordingly we have formulated the
offence in the widest possible terms.''
It was, however, an Amendment which
violated Article 25 of the International Covenant
of Civil and Political Rights - a Convention which Sri Lanka had ratified.
"...The key to its (the 6th Amendment's) effect is paragraph (1) which runs as
follows:- 'No person shall directly or indirectly, in or outside Sri Lanka, support,
espouse, promote, finance, encourage or advocate the establishment of a separate State
within the territory of Sri Lanka'. Anyone who contravenes that provision becomes liable
to the imposition of civic disability for upto 7 years, the forfeiture of his movable and
immovable property... the loss of his passport... the right to engage in any trade or
profession. In addition if he is a Member of Parliament, he loses his seat.
The freedom to express political opinions, to seek to persuade others of their
merits, to seek to have them represented in Parliament, and thereafter seek Parliament to
give effect to them, are all fundamental to democracy itself. These are precisely the
freedoms which Article 25 (of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights)
recognises and guarantees - and in respect of advocacy for the establishment of an
independent Tamil State in Sri Lanka, those which the 6th Amendment is designed to outlaw.
It therefore appears to me plain that this enactment constitutes a clear violation by
Sri Lanka of its obligations in international law under the Covenant ...before the 6th
Amendment was passed, the Tamil United Liberation Front was the largest opposition party
in Parliament, and its effect has therefore been to increase the (ruling) United National
Party's majority from the previous 83% to 93%.. Accordingly, the President can now hardly
be surprised if his opponents, both within the country and outside, regard the 6th
Amendment as nothing more than a piece of political chicanery, designed
to move Sri Lanka even further towards a one party State..." (Paul Sieghart: Sri
Lanka-A Mounting Tragedy of Errors - Report of a Mission to Sri Lanka in January 1984 on
behalf of the International Commission of Jurists and its British Section, Justice, March
1984)
...continued...
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