South Africa’s Truth & Reconciliation Commission was NOT a tribunal & therefore had no powers to prosecute individuals as there were no judges, no lawyers & no intention to declare who was guilty & who was innocent. It was nothing but Restorative Justice created in 1995 by the Nelson Mandela govt claiming it would “heal” the trauma of apartheid. Nothing of the sort happened. We don’t need new healing, restorative justice, reconciliation 16 years after Sri Lanka’s conflict ended. Yes, we need truth – but that truth must name all the individuals (local & foreign) who supported LTTE over the years, all the organizations, officials, governments, NGOs (local & foreign) especially the Church who funded & supported LTTE over the years. If none of these truths are going to be put into the open, there is no point in holding any TRC in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka’s Armed Forces must not fall for this trap of story-telling & confessions for compensation!
Traditional tribunals punish wrongdoers through trials. The TRC was a crafty means to get people to confess to guilt & be given amnesty for doing so. This is exactly what Sri Lanka’s TRC is aiming to do. With LTTE ground force leaders all dead, the aim is to fool Sri Lanka’s Armed Forces to confess & get amnesty probably holding a carrot that their travel bans etc would be lifted. Sri Lanka’s Armed Forces should not fall for this trap! Sri Lanka does not need ad hoc Christian-based “forgiveness” tribunals based on a bogus “healing, reconciliation, truth-telling”. Sri Lanka has been pumped reconciliation since 2009 while the LTTE cohorts are happily screaming separate state & eelam! Anyone short of listening to fairytales or horror stories these TRC are ideal!
While pro-LTTE lobbyists claim 40,000 dead they have not produced the names of the dead, there are no dead bodies, no skeletons & no habeas corpus or police complaints by families to claim the dead even lived. Without proving this there is no case against the armed forces for war crimes/genocide.
Nevertheless, entire villages were massacred by LTTE since 1980s over 30 years – are these victims alive to tell their story? What about the hundreds that LTTE gunned down & killed in premeditated murder – these people comprised Sinhalese, Muslims, Tamils & even foreigners. Can compensation bring back these people who were gunned down for no reason? Who in the LTTE will come forward & admit to these crimes today?’
There is nothing to educate the Sri Lankan public, everyone who lived under LTTE rule are well aware of what LTTE did. There is no reason to return to that sordid past simple for storytelling. There are enough of documents of LTTE’s crimes. Moreover, the people have moved on. People have bigger problems than revisiting terrorist’s tales. That terror chapter is now over. People have economic & social issues to deal with. There is no requirement to dig the past because Prabakaran cannot be brought to life to answer to all his crimes.
The people placed trust in the then Govt to end terrorism & liberate the Nation from terrorism. The President as Commander in Chief ordered his troops & they did the needful in 2009 with one flag hoisted across the Nation. This was an occasion where the trust of the people was fulfilled.
What is baffling is why a National Army is being kept in par with an internationally banned terrorist group. Why should terrorists be given any status other than holding them to account for the violation of pre-meditated murder across 30 years. Simply because the terrorist group was defeated & thus defeated those who were indirectly & directly backing the terrorists over the years. Thus, all of these “justice” “accountability” attempts are nothing but a means of revenge against all those who contributed to the defeat of the LTTE.
Immediately after the conflict ended the 12000 LTTE who surrendered to the National Army were all put through rehabilitation, the 594 LTTE child soldiers were returned to school & were given opportunities to learn. This was the healing given immediately after the conflict. We don’t need new healing, restorative justice, reconciliation 16 years after the conflict ended.
Yes, we need truth – but that truth must name all the individuals (local & foreign) who supported LTTE over the years, all the organizations, officials, governments, NGOs (local & foreign) who funded & supported LTTE over the years.
If none of these truths are going to be put into the open, there is no point in holding any TRC in Sri Lanka.
South Africa’s TRC received testimonies from 21,000 victims in over 70 public hearings. 7112 amnesty applications were received. However, less than 1000 were whites. 849 were given amnesty after they disclosed their involvement in the crimes. If the TRC was not a legal tribunal, how valid were these amnesties.
With no legal ramifications for those who confessed to crimes does this not open more wounds than heal? Moreover, anyone can confess to claim a reparation.
The South African TRC gave $3000 per victim.
How can a loss of life in Sri Lanka be compared to this measly amount & have the case closed after digging up the trauma 16 years after it ended?
How far has racial tensions been solved in South Africa post-TRC? None of the Black South Africans got the lands taken from them back!
Apartheid ended in 1994. But Blacks continue to suffer even in 2025!
Economic Inequality
Wealth Distribution – 2020 report by South African Institute of Race Relations – 70% of whites hold South Africa’s wealth though they make up only 8% of the population.
Unemployment – 2024 – overall unemployment about 33.9%. Unemployment amongst Blacks was higher.
In 2022 Black youth unemployment stood at 46.6% – white unemployment was 10.4%
Land ownership – As per South African Govts Dept of Rural Development & Land Reform about 72% agricultural land is still owned by whites who comprise 8% of the population.
Housing –
13.7m Blacks were still living in poor quality housing as per 2019 report from Statistics South Africa. 56% of South African households still live in poverty.
Education – As per South African Education Department Black South Africans made up 80% of student population with the lowest graduation rates. 77% whites students graduate as against 49% blacks.
Income & Wealth
In 2020 white South Africans had a median income of around R120,000 per year compared to black South Africans whose median income was about R60,000 per year (SAIRR)
World Bank 2019 claims Black South Africans are still 8 times more likely to live in poverty than white South Africans. Poverty rate for blacks was 42% against 5% for whites.
Racial Tensions & Hate Crimes
2020 report of South African Human Sciences Research Council says racial discrimination still exists. 30% blacks report experiencing racial discrimination in public spaces & 12% say they experience racial discrimination in the workplace.
South African police recorded more than 1000 hate crimes in 2019 related to race.
What are the lessons Sri Lanka must take from the South African TRC (1996-2002)
- Amnesty followed Christian principles of forgive & forget without anyone actually meaning it as it came with a carrot of compensation.
- Amnesty was given to individuals who confessed with full disclosure of crimes – people confessed to get amnesty & compensation & because they were told there was no legal ramifications for confessing guilt. This is likely to be a trick to only frame Sri Lankan Armed Forces as LTTE ground force are no more.
- There was no national healing nor reconciliation – only a bogus “truth-telling” which meant more than 6000 blacks confessing to less than 1000 whites confessing. Apartheid was about white discrimination against blacks.
- The catch came with the fact that the TRC had no legal power to prosecute but they could recommend prosecution
- Some of those who confessed faced public backlash & criticism from victim families & society.
- However, some of the perpetrators who received amnesty have been held accountable & faced legal action.
- New Truth & Justice Movements were formulated demanding legal action against those who confessed resulting in new issues & forming more controversies. We can see how this will materialize in Sri Lanka via the LTTE Diaspora and the usual hired NGO culprits.
- Though the TRC claims to give amnesty for confessions there is nothing stopping individuals using information revealed in the TRC to file in civil courts against the perpetrators.
- There is a major difference in TRC giving amnesty & immunity. TRC did not grant immunity from civil legal action. A victim / family of victim could use confessions to demand compensation/damages in civil court.
Therefore, Sri Lanka does not require to be copying & pasting what other countries do.
Our situation was different to South Africa’s. South African TRC was nothing but a failure. It only gave a handsome remuneration for the 300 staff who were involved in the TRC.
16 years have passed since the end of Sri Lanka’s conflict. LTTE ground force is no more. Majority of other LTTE have fled to other countries & made a home there. The rehabilitated LTTE have married & LTTE child soldiers are also now adults & getting about their lives. We do not hold grudges as there are no more killings.
If Tamils have a problem that needs to be healed & solved it is none other than their caste issues while the majority Hindu practicing Tamils need to now wonder why the Church was instrumental in always becoming the mouthpiece for Tamils & LTTE. These are questions that are yet to be solved but unlikely to be solved as these truths will never get to any TRUTH table.
What was never admitted in South Africa’s TRC was the role of the Church in apartheid. Dutch Reformed Church (NGK) was the mainline church of white Afrikaners, who played a central role in supporting apartheid. Let us not forget, Desmond Tutu was a signatory in some of the pro-LTTE letters sent to the UNHRC against Sri Lanka. Thus, the TRC’s “forgiveness” is plucked from the Church which continues to dictate who is guilty & who is not based on what is advantageous to their political agenda.
It is obvious that not only past governments but this government & all of their advisors are clueless about Sri Lanka & the terrorist conflict we faced alongside the players that were involved directly & indirectly & are happy to play poodle to any proposals that come from those who want to seek revenge against those who ended terrorism.
Sri Lanka’s Armed Forces must not fall for this trap of story-telling & confessions for compensation!
Shenali D Waduge