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Black July 1983: the Charge is Genocide
The attack that was launched on the Tamil people on 24
July 1983
and the succeeding days, was carefully planned...
Clearly, the attack that was launched on the Tamil people on 24
July 1983 and the succeeding days, was carefully planned. This was
no spontaneous outbreak of violence. This was no emotional backlash
to the ambush of 13 Sinhala soldiers by the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam in Jaffna on the day before. Neither was it something
that was planned within twenty four hours in the immediate aftermath
of the ambush.
Whilst those Tamils who were resident in predominantly Sinhala
areas, in the island, were set upon by Sinhala goondas, in the Tamil
homeland in the North and East, the attack was launched directly by
the occupying Sri Lankan 'security' forces.
Whilst Tamil houses and shops were burnt in widely different
places, the same distinct method was adopted time and again. The
attackers carried lists of names and addresses. They knew exactly
where to go. In many cases the homes of owners of shops were
attacked at the same time as their shops were burnt. Where shops
were rented by Tamils from Sinhala landlords, the building was
spared, but the goods were taken out and destroyed. Where Tamil
shops were adjacent to Sinhala owned premises, care was taken to
separate connected roofs.
The goondas demonstrated remarkable skills in destroying
buildings. They smashed up windows where they were closed, and thus
ensured ventilation. They then broke the roof and from the roof top
poured in petrol followed by a lighted paper. The goondas engaged in
arson but did not take part in looting. The looting took place after
the arsonists left. There was a general pattern seen in the attacks
which started in Colombo and then spread to Kandy and the
outstations.
The selection of the persons to be attacked, the preparation
of the lists of names and addresses, the selection of the goondas,
the distribution of the lists to the leader of each area goon squad,
the distribution of white plastic petrol cans complete with rubber
tubing, to siphon petrol from cars, and the distribution of clubs
and iron rods made it self evident that the attack was the result of
a plan that must have taken weeks of preparation.
''The rioters seeking out Tamil homes and burning them had a
particularly detailed knowledge of who lived where and who owned
what.'' (London Times, 8 August 1983)
'The violence was vicious and bloody. But what distinguished it
from many other communal Asian riots was the way that the mob
singled out specific business premises. In street after street in
Colombo groups of rioters hit only at shops and factories, as well
as homes owned by Tamils. Their careful selectivity is apprarent
now. In each street individual business premises were burnt down
while others alongside stand unscathed. Troops and police (almost
exclusively Sinhalese) either joined the rioters or stood idly
by.The events were so well organised no one doubts that there was a
master list of targets.'' (Financial Times, 12 August 1983)
''From the beginning of the disturbances, many people in the
mobs in the streets possessed election lists containing the
names and addresses of all those who lived in particular
streets. The lists indicated the houses in occupation by Tamils
and also whether the owner of a house was Tamil, Sinhalese or
Muslim. The possessions and houses of Tamil people were then
systematically attacked. If a Tamil family were living in a
house rented from Sinhalese owners, the house itself was not
damaged but the furniture and property of the Tamils within it
would be destroyed. In many streets all the Tamil owned
shops were destroyed but those owned by Muslims or Sinhalese
were spared. The same thing happened with houses.
The destruction was repeatedly described as systematic and
organised and similar lists were used in all the towns
throughout the country where violence occurred....
Throughout, the destruction of Tamil property was the apparent
primary aim. The fact that very little looting took place in
the very early stages tended to confirm the conviction about the
level of organisation involved. It was observed that many
people in the gangs were extremly poor so that the temptation
for them to loot must have been very great, yet, on the whole,
this temptation was resisted. Also, it was stressed that the
order which was apparent in the big gangs indicated that there
was considerable organisation behind their activities.''
(Patricia Hyndman, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of New
South Wales and Secretary, Lawasia Human Rights Standing
Committee Report -Democracy in Peril, June 1985)
''...the killing and the arson and the destruction and the
looting were done with a high professional expertise and diabolical
sophistication. Rioting mobs? Blood thirsty thugs? Certainly,
but led by cold blooded arsonists and vandals who
knew exactly what they were doing, what they had to do, or had been
asked to do. It was deliberate, methodical and thorough, and
entirely one sided... No, it was not an ethnic riot: it was a
pogrom, an organised massacre of an ethnic minority by the power
wielding majority...'' (An Indian Reader in the Madras Hindu, 3
September 1983)
''A 28 year old housewife, who returned from a Sri Lanka
holiday with her husband and two daughters said the huts Tamils
lived had been 'cleanly burned out', the arsonists evidently
being anxious to ensure that no Sinhalese property was
damaged.'' (Oslo Report dateline 29 July 1983 in Madras
Hindu)
''It was a horrifying nightmare - looting, burning, murder on an
unimaginable scale.
Colombo resembles a bombed city in places - charred and blackened,
roofless gaping buildings where prosperous houses, shops and
factories once stood. What is dreadful to realise is that the
whole operation was planned and carried out with virtually military
precision. Tamil... houses, shops and factories had quite
clearly been marked out earlier. And although everything took place
so quickly and over such a large area, giving the idea of
spontaneity, everywhere the pattern was the same... Some one
seemed to have planned the whole thing and waited only for an
opportunity...'' (Eye witness account, Sri Lanka: Racism and
the Authoritarian State - Race and Class, Volume XXVI, A.Sivanandan
and Hazel Waters, Institute of Race Relations)
These were the facts which led Paul Sieghart Q.C., Chairman of
Justice, to write in March 1984 :
"... One thing is quite clear: they (the attacks) did not
start spontaneously. On the morning of the 24th of July, many
people apparently went about their ordinary business in Colombo,
with no forebodings and no expectations of anything untoward.
And then suddenly, the streets were full of goondas, Tamil
houses and shops were on fire, Tamil possessions were being
destroyed, and Tamils were being killed... Clearly this was not
a spontaneous upsurge of communal hatred among the Sinhala
people - nor was it, as has been suggested in some quarters, a
popular response to the killing of 13 soldiers in an ambush by
Tamil Tigers on the previous day, which was not even reported in
the newspapers until after the riots began. It was a series
of deliberate acts, executed in accordance with a concerted
plan, conceived and organised well in advance. But who were the
planners?"
(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)
The government of Sri Lanka faced with these self evident facts
was, disarmingly frank. The Sinhala Minister of Information, Dr.
Ananda Tissa de Alwis, announced on 29 July 1983
(see also Full text of
Speech)
:
"Look at some of the facts that you know yourself. As I told
the press briefing on Wednesday after the cabinet meeting, there
was a pattern about this, wherever the rioting took place. You
may recall that His Excellency the President, when he addressed
the nation, also referred to this general pattern of events,
from place to place. The similarity of the action of those who
took part in it. How can there be a pattern if there was no
leadership?
Pre planning, instruction about what each group was to do -
you saw for yourself, for example, that although riots took
place, burning of houses and shops took place in widely
different parts of the city and its suburbs, there was a
distinct method in every case... Now, if this happened in
Borella and did not happen in Nugegoda, then there is no
pattern; then there was no unity of design; there was no
instruction. But where it happened, it was exactly in the same
way. This was the pattern...
Another thing that everybody noticed, or most people noticed
if they were looking, was that the looters or the people who
came to burn and pillage, carried lists of names and addresses.
They knew exactly where to go. They did not search. They looked
at a piece of paper, looked at a number and there they were.
Therefore there was pre planning. We now understand from the
information in the hands of the government, that these names and
addresses were taken from the Register of Electors, from the
Parliamentary Voters Lists, and were prepared very much in
advance for an occasion such as this, the timing of which was
left for various events which might or might not have happened,
or might or might not have been engineered."
In the words of Minister de Alwis, "How can there be a pattern,
if there were no leaders? " How, indeed? Who, then, were the leaders
? Who were the planners of this contingent plan which was "prepared
very much in advance" and the "timing of which was left for various
events which might or might not have happened " or which "might or
might not have been engineered"?
Full text of speech by
the Minister of State & Information, Anandatissa De Alwis on TV on 29
July 1983 as issued by the Sri Lanka Government Printer and quoted
in Lawasia Report 'Democracy in Peril - Sri Lanka, a Country in Crisis'
by Patricia Hyndman, 7 June 1985 - " Everyone knows the extent of
damage done to our country by the riots of the last few days. People
are beginning to realise the extent of the unemployment which is a
direct result. Even a small boutique employed two or three persons,
and some of the larger shops twenty or thirty persons. And some of the
factories that have been burned down employed thousands of people.
Ninety persons of the employees in all these establishments were
Sinhalese. But I am not going to talk to you about those disasters. I
want to talk to you about some other aspect of this situation, which is
even more dangerous.
Tonight I want to tell you that this is not a mere Sinhala - Tamil riot. It
is much more than that. It is a deeper conspiracy that merely set one set of
people against another. This is part of a very deep plot to overthrow the
Government.
Look at some of the facts that you know for yourself. As I told the Press
briefing on Wednesday after the cabinet meeting, there was a pattern about this,
wherever the rioting took place. You may recall that His Excellency the
President, when he
addressed the nation
also referred to this general pattern of events, from place to place. The
similarity of the action of those who took part in it. How can there be a
pattern if there was no leadership? Pre-planning, instruction about what each
group was to do. You saw for yourself, for example, that although riots took
place, burnings of houses and shops took place in widely different parts the
city and its suburbs.
There was a distinct method in each case. The rioters came along,
took out the people from their homes, or the employees and proprietors
from the shops, put them on the road, then carried some of the goods on
to the road and set fire to them. Then they proceeded inside the
workshop, or factory or house, to set fire to the rest. Now, if this
happened in Borella and didn’t. happen in Nugegoda, then there is no
pattern. Then there is no unity of design. There was no instruction. But
wherever it happened, exactly in the same way. This was the pattern.
Of course there was looting, but there were — according to
information now in the hands of the government — definite instructions
not to loot. This instruction was given apparently in order not to
attract public disapproval and resistance to what they were doing, or
the people doing it. Further, the looting that took place was an
activity in which the locals took part. (As you know the thugs and
hooligans you find in every street junction were happy to do the looting
once the job had been done).
So to that degree, there was a pattern. Another thing that everybody noticed,
or most people noticed if they were looking, was that the looters, or the people
who came to burn and pillage, carried lists of names and addresses. They know
exactly where to go. They didn’t search. They looked at a piece of paper, looked
at a number and there they were. Therefore, there was pre-planning. We now
understand from the information in the hands of the Government, that these names
and addresses were taken from the Register of Electors, from the parliamentary
voting Lists, and were prepared very much in advance for an occasion such as
this, the timing of which was left for various events which might or might not
have happened, or might or might not have been engineered.
The Government also has information that there were three stages in the
operation, plotted against it to bring it down. Stage one was to start a Sinhala
- Tamil riot by exploiting the prevailing tension between the two races and the
tension created by the unceasing activity of terrorists and terrorism in the
North. The second stage was to begin later with a riot between the Sinhalese and
the Muslims. In point of fact, one of our Ministers said that some such thing
was attempted in one area, but fortunately he was present on the spot and was
able to calm feelings of people who might otherwise have been at each other’s
throats.
This shows that there was a pre plan and an incitement ready, provocation
ready, to create such a series of actions throughout the country. Now that was
the second stage of this plan. The third stage of the plan was to create a
division among the Sinhalese themselves. Sinhalese-Buddhists and
Sinhalese-Christians. This would have followed the same pattern of rumour, or
provocation, of some assault on some Priest or Church or Temple, and a highly
exaggerated version of what really happened, and then the people who were
planning it, would have witnessed the kind of mayhem we witnessed in the last
few days.
It was believed by these people that if all these changes were successfully
launched, the Police and the armed services would themselves be divided. (After
all if there were conflicts between Sinhala and Tamils, Sinhalese and Muslims,
Buddhists and Christians, then the men serving in the Armed Forces and Police
are themselves Buddhists, Christians, Sinhalese or Tamils, or Muslims as the
case may be.)
The people who were plotting all this hoped that that would lead to a
collapse of the military arm of Government, and that Government would not be
able to keep the peace, and a Government that cannot keep the peace has ended
its authority. That was the objective of the people who planned this thing in
this country. Certain reports show that advice on local conditions and the kind
of persons to be involved, persons to be isolated for criticism or attack or
whatever. That kind of advice came from certain University lecturers in the
Campuses of this country. I am not free to talk of names and people, I am only
indicating the background to what has happened.
The master plan had in it the minds of certain foreign elements. These
foreign elements are the Master Planners, who plotted the course of actions one
by one. The operation was based on local political parties. Sometimes in certain
areas combinations of political parties totally opposed to the Government. Some
of these parties have also had talks with terrorists in the North, and there had
been secret meetings at which the Sinhala parties in the South and the Tamil
parties in the North had got together to help each other, both using terrorist
means to achieve ends for different reasons, one from the other.
The plotters also hoped to create later, or simultaneously, a run on food. A
food shortage, leading to a food riot. And there, regardless of party,
regardless of race or religion, everybody would join or so they hoped. If this
plan succeeded, our country’s progress would have been doomed. All the
developnent which means jobs, food, money, land, homes, health, education for
the people, peaceful living for the people, all these would have been gone. All
the efforts of development would have been in vain. Once again Sri Lanka would
have gone back to being yet another basket case among the poorer nations of the
world. Our people would have lived in terror and fear of their own shadows. But
fortunately the Police and the Armed services, working under very severe
difficulties, under great strain and the large mass of our disciplined people in
the country, helped the Government to deal with this situation. The danger is
not yet over. There are still groups using every means they can, particularly of
rumour to start new riots all over again. There were looters waiting to take
advantage of this situation. They are not concerned with Sinhala or Tamil
or any other race or issue. They are neither patriotic nor one bit worried about
the future. They are worried about tomorrow’s loot. They exist only when there
is disorder. They are waiting.
Everyone’s family is now in danger and the remedy now is in your hands. The
Government has a right to ask you to help the Government to protect you. You
have a right to demand of the Government that the Government protects you. But
both these things have one common feature. A togetherness between the people and
the Government. The Government by itself cannot protect anybody. The
people cannot by itself ask the Government to protect them if they do not help.
Now can you help? We are not asking you to fight in the streets.
You can help by giving your support and confident to President
Jayewardena. He is the Head of State, and if this crisis is to be
overcome, he and he alone can help us all, without help to overcome it,
and to bring back peace and order in this country. You can help by
keeping calm, even if the people round you get excited and angry. All of
us are going through a terrible strain. Most of us are anxious for
someone or another, some parts of one family. This is natural. It is
natural to be irritated and angry under the circumstances. Trying to
find someone to blame. Nobody blames himself or herself. We always try
to find someone to blame. Therefore, in this crisis if we can keep calm
and not trying to find people to blame (we can do that later) we can
help.
We can help by forming vigilance Committees, in our streets, in our gardens,
in our cities and towns. We can help by helping those who have formed these
Societies. We can help by not passing on rumour, tots of these rumours are
passed on the telephone. ‘Did you hear’, somebody says. ‘I heard from a very
reliable friend’, and these reliable friends have heard from other reliable
friends, and if only these ‘reliable friends’ WILL KEEP THEIR MOUTHS SHUT, many
of the trouble we had would not have occurred. For example, somebody invented a
rumour that there were terrorists on the roofs of tall buildings in the Fort and
that they were shooting at our troops. THERE WAS NO SUCH THING. But it became so
believable, people described them. They said they were in uniform. There were
some who invented a beautiful story that some of these people were white people,
from some other country. And one was a magnificent invention. The person said he
saw one of them dead and his body was white.
This is what imagination, fevered imagination can create, out of nothing.
What really happened you have read in the daily Press. Some people from a roof
(some Sri Lankan people, some Sinhalese people) threw some explosive at our
troops. Our troops fired back and these people on the roof, some of them died.
That is how these rumours began. But see, what you heard was not what happened.
What you heard was a fantastic story, a deadly story. It caused panic. People
ran for their lives. That is what rumour can do. So, you can stop it. It’s you.
If you do not repeat it to somebody else the rumour stops at your door. You can
help in that way. You can help by not helping thugs and looters. This is no time
to show your sympathy for the man in the next gardens of whom some people are
afraid.
Therefore, my friends, in this hour of shame and misery for Sri Lanka let us
get back together in groups to save our little country so that we shall ensure
for the future once again a free society for us and for our children."
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