According to one source, talks which took place between President Jayewardene and the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) in 1981 as part of a government peace strategy in anticipation of a visit by Queen Elizabeth, put forward a demand for the creation of "home guards". [ Satchi Ponnambalam, Sri Lanka: The National Question and the Tamil Liberation Struggle, (London: Zed Books, 1983), pp. 211-212. ] In December 1984 the government decided to send ca.200,000 people, mostly Sinhalese, from the South into the Tamil areas, supplying "home guards" within this group with shotguns and automatic weapons for self-defence. [ Brian Senewiratne, Violations of Human Rights in Sri Lanka, Queensland, Australia, ca. 1986, pp. 15-16.] These armed groups have been held responsible for serious violations of Tamils' rights in their areas of influence and are reportedly beyond the control of the police and law-enforcing bodies in Sri Lanka. [ Ibid.]

Asia Watch describes the Home Guards as "an armed auxiliary force of non-Tamil civilians established by a directive of the President and functioning under the responsibility of the Ministry of Internal Security", criticized by the press and human rights organizations as poorly trained and undisciplined. [ Cycles of Violence, (Washington, D.C.: Asia Watch, December 1987), p. 23.] The Home Guards, which reportedly operate independently, but in some cases in conjunction with other armed forces' personnel, are reported to be implicated in cases of extra-judicial executions, massacres, arrests and rape. [ Ibid, pp. 23, 33-34.]

According to official statements made by the Sri Lanka government after the Indian Peace-Keeping Force (IPKF) arrived to the Northern and Eastern provinces, 10,000 Home Guards -over 90 percent of their total in these provinces- had returned their weapons to the police by the end of August 1987. [ Ibid, p. 43.] Although the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam claimed on 28 August 1987 that the Home Guards had not been disarmed, Asia Watch reports that evidence tends to support the claim that Home Guards had been disarmed. [ Ibid.]

In September 1987, the government reportedly announced plans to recruit up to 30,000 men into militias or Home Guards in the South, to deal with the Janata Vimukhti Peramuna (JVP) guerrillas, although the proposal met opposition from political parties and human rights activists who feared the Home Guards may turn into private or partisan armies. [ Ibid, p. 70.]

According to Human Rights Watch, as communicated by telephone on 14 May 1990, the Home Guards have been re-deployed to the Southern regions to fight the JVP, and to this date there is no sign of their disbanding. Rather, the possibility of assimilating them to the army or police forces is being discussed as an alternative. The source added that participation in the Home Guards is voluntary, with no reports having been received concerning forced training or recruitment in the regions where they now operate. The Sri Lankan government, however, has apparently provided weapons to civilian politicians, many of which have reportedly formed small "private armies" or armed groups of bodyguards.

Additional corroborating information on the above could not be found among the sources currently available to the IRBDC.