Document #1094444
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
According to information faxed to the DIRB
by INFORM, a Sri Lankan human rights organisation, three groups are
known to have used the name Mothers' Front in Sri Lanka (16 Feb.
1995). INFORM reports that in the early 1990s a Mothers' Front
group supported by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
existed briefly in the Eastern Province, but that no other
information is available on this group (ibid.). A subsequent fax
received by the DIRB from INFORM reports that a Mothers' Front has
been operating in southern Sri Lanka since July 1990, while another
Mothers' Front began work in northern Sri Lanka in August 1984 (17
Feb. 1995.). For information on the treatment of members of the
northern and southern Mothers' Fronts, and on the current status of
the two groups, please consult the attachments.
The Sri Lanka Monitor contains a
report on the second annual convention of the Mothers' Front, which
took place in Colombo on 23 June 1992, but does not identify which
Mothers' Front group held this event (June 1992, 4). However, this
newsletter reports that 3 000 "grieving relatives of the
disappeared heard prominent Sri Lankan women such as Badulla SLFP
MP Hema Ratnayake ... and Dr. Manorani Saravanamuttu ..." (ibid).
The newsletter also reports that this Mothers' Front group wants an
independent commission to investigate all disappearances since
1988" (ibid).
In a telephone interview, a researcher with
Amnesty International in London corroborated the existence of a
southern-based Mothers' Front group (16 Feb. 1995). According to
the researcher, Saravanamuttu was part of the leadership of the
southern-based Mothers' Front when it was established, although the
driving force behind the organisation was the Sri Lanka Freedom
Party (SLFP) (ibid.). The Amnesty International researcher added
that this Mothers' Front group worked in the southern provinces of
Sri Lanka to publicise the issue of disappearances, and to demand
an investigation into killings and disappearances committed by
state authorities (ibid.). The reasearcher was unable to
corroborate the existence of the other two Mothers' Front groups
(ibid.).
In a subsequent telephone interview, the
Amnesty International researcher stated that authorities had
disrupted or interfered with demonstrations organized by the
Mothers' Front (17 Feb. 1995). The researcher could not
substantiate reports of ill-treatment of members of the Mothers'
Front (ibid.). Information on the treatment of members in villages,
or what response their participation in Mothers' Front activities
would receive from the police is difficult to find, according to
the researcher, although the activities of Mothers' Front
participants were public and would be known by the police
(ibid.).
According to the Amnesty International
researcher, the Mothers' Front relied on a network of supporters in
the villages to conduct rallies, marches and other "high profile
public demonstrations" in order to pressure the government into
investigating and prosecuting those responsible for the
disappearances and killings committed during a counter-insurgency
campaign against the People's Liberation Front (Janatha Vimukhti
Peramuna or JVP) (16 Feb. 1995.). Following the 1994 elections two
leaders of the southern-based Mothers' Front, MPs Mahinda Rajapakse
and Managala Samaraweera of the SLFP were re-elected and now serve
in the cabinet of the government, Rajapakse as Minister of Labour
and Samaraweera as Minister of Posts and Telecommunications (ibid;
The Sri Lanka Monitor Aug. 1994, 2).
According to the Amnesty International
researcher, the southern-based Mothers' Front apparently has not
determined what its role will be now that two of its leaders are
members of the government (ibid.). The new government has launched
a commission of inquiry into the disappeared, although what role
the Mother's Front may play remains unclear (ibid.).
For additional information on the
involvement of Dr. Manorani Saravanamuttu in the southern-based
Mothers' Front, please consult the Inter Press Service article of
17 February 1994 attached to this response. For general information
on the southern-based Mothers' Front, including responses of the
military to investigations into disappearances, please consult the
attachments.
This response was prepared after
researching publicly accessible information currently available to
the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does
not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular
claim to refugee status or asylum.
Amnesty International, London. 17
February 1995. Telephone interview with researcher.
_____. 16 February 1995. Telephone
interview with researcher.
INFORM, Colombo. 17 February 1995. Fax
received by the DIRB.
_____. 16 February 1995. Fax received by
the DIRB.
The Sri Lanka Monitor [London].
August 1994. No. 79. "The Cabinet."
_____. June 1992. No. 53. "Task Force
Without Teeth."
INFORM, Colombo. 17 February 1995. Fax
received by the DIRB.
Reuters. 11 October 1994. BC Cycle.
Rohan Gunasekera. Sri Lanka Army Irked by Digging for Leftist
Bones." (NEXIS)
Inter Press Service (IPS). 17 February
1994. "Sri Lanka: Four Years On, Mother Still Weeps For Lost Son."
(NEXIS)
Japan Economic Newswire. 5 January 1994.
"Opposition Calls For Investigative Commission." (NEXIS)
Inter Press Service (IPS). 16 June 1993.
Rita Sebastian. "Sri Lanka: Less Rights Abuses, But Haunted by Past
Horrors." (NEXIS)