1) Very little information is available in the sources regularly consulted by the IRBDC regarding the activities of the JVP from the time it was re-legalized in 1977 until it was banned again in 1983. The attached article from The Far Eastern Economic Review, dated 12 November 1987 mentions that the UNP, upon assuming power after the elections of 1977, released the remaining JVP leaders who had been jailed after their abortive 197l uprising on the condition that the JVP give up violence and join the political mainstream. Both this article and another attachment from India Today, dated 15 January 1988, note that the leader of the JVP, Rohana Wijeweera, ran in the 1982 presidential election in Sri Lanka and came third. The article from India Today further states that Wijeweera and the JVP "dabbled in democracy" in the period from 1977 to 1983. The 1982 Annual Report of Amnesty International claims that some JVP sympathizers had been arrested in late 1981 for calling for the reinstatement of dismissed strikers and for participating in peaceful demonstrations against the government's White Paper on education. [Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 1982, (London: Amnesty International Publications, 1982), p. 243.] Amnesty International further reports in the edition of its annual report for 1983 that under the Emergency Regulations imposed by the UNP after the presidential elections of October 1982, many members of opposition parties were detained, including members of the JVP. [Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 1983, (London: Amnesty International Publications, 1983), p.233.]

In a telephone conversation held on 21 September 1989 with Professor Bruce Matthews, a noted Canadian scholar on Sri Lankan politics, it was pointed out that the JVP was somewhat popular during the period it was legalized. Professor Matthews suspects that had the party been allowed to compete in the 1983 elections, it would have done quite well. It was further added that the JVP was banned, unwisely according to Professor Matthews, because the Colombo government wrongly accused it of fomenting the anti-Tamil riots of July 1983. Information on the activities of the JVP after it was banned may be found in the attached articles from India Today, both published on 15 January 1988.

2) Please find attached various newspaper clippings which will give a general overview of the situation in Colombo with regard to the JVP. At various times since August 1988, the JVP has called for nationwide strikes and supported demonstrations to press demands that the Sri Lankan government step down (both that of Jayewardene and his successor, Premadasa). In Colombo, it appears that the amount of violence has been kept low and the strikes and protests are not expressly directed at the Tamil community in that city. The article by noted Canadian scholar Bruce Matthews mentions that the strikes are an "occasional nuisance". Nonetheless, the intimidation tactics by the JVP and the government threats to those who obey the strike calls have resulted in an atmosphere of fear in the city, according to the attached New York Times article from September 1988. The JVP has killed and harassed members and supporters of the Colombo government, as well the Sri Lankan security forces, but there are no reports available to the IRBDC at this time which indicate that Tamils are being singled out as targets.

Crossette, Barbara. "Sri Lanka Capital Becomes City of Fear", The New York Times. 13 September 1988. no page given.

Housego, David. "Sri Lanka's future balanced between hope and fear", Financial Times. 12 May 1989, no page given.

Matthews, Bruce. "Taming terrorism is his only hope", Globe and Mail. 3 April 1989. A7.

"27 bus passengers killed in Tamil attack", Globe and Mail. 15 November 1988. no page given.

"15 Demonstrators Slain in Sri Lanka", The New York Times. 11 November 1988. no page given.

"Soldiers told to shoot demonstrators", The Toronto Star. 10 November 1988. no page given.

Amnesty International. Amnesty International Report 1982. London: Amnesty International Publications, 1982. 242-243.

Amnesty International. Amnesty International Report 1983. London: Amnesty International Publications, 1983. 232-233.

Gupta, Shekhar. "Sri Lanka: The Opposition Within", India Today. 15 January 1989.

. "JVP Radical Cult", India Today. 15 January 1989.