Untitled - International Commission of Jurists
Untitled - International Commission of Jurists
Untitled - International Commission of Jurists
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To place the discussion regarding the findings <strong>of</strong> this <strong>Commission</strong> <strong>of</strong> Inquiry in their<br />
proper perspective, it is necessary to refer to the historical events that led to the<br />
communal violence <strong>of</strong> 1977 (see Chapter One). The stance <strong>of</strong> the TULF in openly<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>essing a policy <strong>of</strong> non-violence while approving or even encouraging sections <strong>of</strong><br />
the militant youth to engage in acts <strong>of</strong> violence was strongly condemned by<br />
<strong>Commission</strong>er Sansoni. He relied on evidence <strong>of</strong> police <strong>of</strong>ficers given before the<br />
<strong>Commission</strong> to establish the conventional wisdom <strong>of</strong> the establishment at that time;<br />
namely, that certain actions <strong>of</strong> the Federal Party were the principal cause for the<br />
outbreak <strong>of</strong> ethnic rioting and civil disorder in 1977.<br />
In particular, the Sansoni Report advanced the view that the disruption by the police<br />
<strong>of</strong> the fourth conference <strong>of</strong> the <strong>International</strong> Association <strong>of</strong> Tamil Research (IATR) in<br />
Jaffna (which was a key turning point in the spread <strong>of</strong> militancy in the North) was<br />
justified in as much as the maintenance <strong>of</strong> law and order demanded expansive police<br />
action. 213 In regard to the deaths <strong>of</strong> nine persons who were electrocuted when electric<br />
wires were dislodged during the disruption <strong>of</strong> the meeting, <strong>Commission</strong>er Sansoni<br />
placed implicit faith in the magisterial verdict that this dislodging did not result from<br />
intentional firing by the police but instead was accidental. 214<br />
Substantial doubts have been raised as to <strong>Commission</strong>er Sansoni’s rendition <strong>of</strong> this<br />
event, as concisely detailed by Hoole when he refers to the (un<strong>of</strong>ficial) 215 de Kretzer<br />
<strong>Commission</strong> Report that also examined the disruption <strong>of</strong> the IATR conference, but<br />
came to different conclusions. 216 The de Kretzer <strong>Commission</strong>, for example,<br />
unequivocally maintained that the overhead electric wire was brought down by the<br />
police shooting, 217 and did not justify police actions as did the Sansoni <strong>Commission</strong>.<br />
<strong>Commission</strong>er Sansoni did lend a sympathetic ear to the root problems associated<br />
with communal unrest, as for example, in his acknowledgement that the Tamil<br />
language should have been recognised as a national or ‘even as an <strong>of</strong>ficial’ language<br />
before 1978. 218 His exhaustive relating <strong>of</strong> the nature <strong>of</strong> the riots that occurred at<br />
various parts <strong>of</strong> the country in Chapter 111 <strong>of</strong> his report is highly effective, given its<br />
minute detailing <strong>of</strong> the loss to life and property <strong>of</strong> persons <strong>of</strong> Tamil origin during the<br />
1977 communal violence. 219 His report also detailed loss and damage caused to<br />
213 ibid, at p. 64.<br />
214 ibid.<br />
215 This was a citizens commission appointed by a section <strong>of</strong> the Jaffna citizenry. Its value and<br />
credibility was enhanced by the quality <strong>of</strong> its members; it comprised retired Supreme Court judges O.L.<br />
de Kretzer and V. Manickavasagar (both fellow judges with Sansoni on the Supreme Court Bench)<br />
along with Bishop Kuvendran.<br />
216 Hoole, Rajan, op. cit, at p. 24.<br />
217 ibid, at p. 25. Hoole pointed to a further element: “Although contained in the de Kretzer report,<br />
Sansoni who was eager to justify the police, paid no attention to the police going berserk after the<br />
incident, assaulting civilians on the streets and the Central Bus Stand.”<br />
218 The Sansoni <strong>Commission</strong> report, Sessional Paper No. VII, July 1980, at p. 73. Sansoni took the<br />
somewhat optimistic view however, that this lacunae has now been remedied by the 1978 Constitution<br />
recognising Tamil as a national language (Article 19) while further providing for its use as a medium <strong>of</strong><br />
instruction, as a language <strong>of</strong> legislation, administration and <strong>of</strong> the Courts. (Articles 21 to 25 ) and<br />
exhorted the government to take steps to implement these provisions without delay lest it be thought<br />
that the recognition given to Tamil is ‘an empty thing.’<br />
219 The violence apparently started after a false message was radioed from a police station in Jaffna on<br />
07.08.1977 purporting to be from the Superintendent <strong>of</strong> Police to the Inspector General <strong>of</strong> Police<br />
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