GENOCIDE^TM is a branding created by the LTTE and pro-LTTE supporters. The LTTE attempted interpret the military offensives against the LTTE as genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka.

With the LTTE losing Kilinochchi, the LTTE began their GENOCIDE^TM campaign. Most pro-LTTE propaganda swallowers cannot distinguish between genocide and GENOCIDE^TM.

I am re-posting a note I made on Facebook few months back.

I am writing this note to debunk the claim of genocide of Tamils made by highly fictitious LTTE propaganda and other groups such TamilsAgainstGenocide.org.

The views I am presenting are for argument-sake and not necessarily my personal views. On a personal note - while I don't endorse most things the GoSL does, I endorse their stand to fight and defeat the LTTE terrorists.

I'm basing my views on "The 8 Stages of Genocide"
source: http://www.genocidewatch.org/aboutgenocide/8stagesofgenocide.html

CLASSIFICATION

All cultures have categories to distinguish people into “us and them” by ethnicity, race, religion, or nationality: German and Jew, Hutu and Tutsi, pro-LTTE and anti-LTTE, tamil and non-tamil, etc.

The main preventive measure at this early stage is to develop universalistic institutions that transcend ethnic or racial divisions, that actively promote tolerance and understanding, and that promote classifications that transcend the divisions.

Promotion of a common language in countries like Tanzania has also promoted transcendent national identity. This search for common ground is vital to early prevention of genocide.

• The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) has made constitutional provisions for the following:
  (a) Tamil as a national language
  (b) Governance under provincial councils - already implemented in eastern province where the majority of the population speak Tamil (language)
  • Constitution of Sri Lanka: http://www.priu.gov.lk/Cons/1978Constitution/Introduction.htm
  • Official website of the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka: http://www.ep.gov.lk/
• Almost all government web sites have content in local languages - Sinhala and Tamil
  • President's web site: http://www.president.gov.lk/
  • The government web site: http://www.priu.gov.lk/
  • Ministry of Defence: http://www.defence.lk
• Promoting tolerance:
  The president in his speeches always promote racial unity. Here are a few citations:

  "I have been elected as the President of the entire country; of all its people, irrespective of language or religion. I consider myself responsible for all children of our country, whether they are in the South or in the North; Trincomalee, Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Batticaloa, Badulla, Colombo or anywhere else. I see them all as my own children. It is because of this that we need to proceed with liberating the Tamil people of the North and their children from the clutches of the LTTE."
  source: http://www.president.gov.lk/speech_New.asp?Id=56

  "One must not belittle this victory as one that has been won by one community over another. It should not be interpreted as defeat of the North by the South. This is a victory for our entire nation and country. It is a decisive victory over savage terrorism that was playing around with the blood, muscle and sinews of humans. It is a victory over venomous separatism that sought to divide people on grounds of race and religion."
  source: http://www.colombopage.com/archive_09/January2135709RA.html

  This is the Motherland of us all. We should live in this country as the children of one mother, as brothers and sisters. There can be no differences here. The war fought against the LTTE was not a war fought against the Tamil people. Our Heroic Troops sacrificed their lives to save the innocent Tamil people from the clutches of the LTTE. We cannot forget the great service rendered by them. The victory we gained defeating the LTTE, is a victory for our entire land. It is great victory you obtained. It is a victory for all who live in our country.

  My dear Heroic Troops,
  The war against the terrorists is now over. It is now the time to win over the hearts of the Tamil people. The Tamil speaking people should be protected. They should be able to live without fear and mistrust. That is today the responsibility of us all!
  source: http://www.president.gov.lk/speech_New.asp?Id=75

SYMBOLIZATION

We give names or other symbols to the classifications. We name people “Jews” or “Gypsies”, or distinguish them by colors or dress; and apply the symbols to members of groups. Classification and symbolization are universally human and do not necessarily result in genocide unless they lead to the next stage, dehumanization. When combined with hatred, symbols may be forced upon unwilling members of pariah groups: the yellow star for Jews under Nazi rule, the blue scarf for people from the Eastern Zone in Khmer Rouge Cambodia. To combat symbolization, hate symbols can be legally forbidden (swastikas) as can hate speech. Group marking like gang clothing or tribal scarring can be outlawed, as well. The problem is that legal limitations will fail if unsupported by popular cultural enforcement. Though Hutu and Tutsi were forbidden words in Burundi until the 1980’s, code-words replaced them. If widely supported, however, denial of symbolization can be powerful, as it was in Bulgaria, where the government refused to supply enough yellow badges and at least eighty percent of Jews did not wear them, depriving the yellow star of its significance as a Nazi symbol for Jews.

The only symbolization the GoSL removed from the tamil civilians under LTTE controlled areas were removing their T-56 (Chinese variant of AK-47) weapons, cyanide capsules and the suicide jacket.

Cyanide capsules? Yes. The LTTE forced children as young as 9 to fight for their "cause". Each LTTE carder was given a cyanide capsule. They did not want any of their carders being captured alive. Surrender wasn't an option. Even for the child soldiers.

Source: Ministry of Defence, Sri Lanka

DEHUMANIZATION

One group denies the humanity of the other group. Members of it are equated with animals, vermin, insects or diseases. Dehumanization overcomes the normal human revulsion against murder. At this stage, hate propaganda in print and on hate radios is used to vilify the victim group. In combating this dehumanization, incitement to genocide should not be confused with protected speech. Genocidal societies lack constitutional protection for countervailing speech, and should be treated differently than democracies. Local and international leaders should condemn the use of hate speech and make it culturally unacceptable. Leaders who incite genocide should be banned from international travel and have their foreign finances frozen. Hate radio stations should be shut down, and hate propaganda banned. Hate crimes and atrocities should be promptly punished.

There is no hate propaganda against Tamils. Why would the GoSL bother to publish content in Tamil, allow the eastern province to be ruled by Tamils and Muslims, with Tamil as the main language of administration? Why would the GoSL offer amnesty to surrendering LTTE carders?

The International community should get together and pressurise the LTTE to release civilians instead of pressurising the Government, Defence Affairs spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said.

Certain international agencies are pressurising the Government to find a mechanism to work out with the LTTE on an amnesty. “We will not negotiate with the LTTE for any reason until they are militarily destroyed. The amnesty for LTTE cadres to surrender is open,” he told the media yesterday.
source: http://www.dailynews.lk/2009/02/07/news16.asp

The GoSL has diverted a considerable amount of resources to rehabilitate and relocate IDPs. Listed below are some newspaper articles (non-state media) and websites of Sri Lanka NGOs assisting the IDPs.

• Sunday Times: Humanitarian challenges in IDP camps
• Rotary Sri Lanka - IDP Aid
• ACT - Action Care Trust Sri Lanka
• The Bottom Line: Fifth IDP welfare centre to be opened
• Ministry of Resettlement

ORGANIZATION

Genocide is always organized, usually by the state, often using militias to provide deniability of state responsibility (the Janjaweed in Darfur.) Sometimes organization is informal (Hindu mobs led by local RSS militants) or decentralized (terrorist groups.) Special army units or militias are often trained and armed. Plans are made for genocidal killings. To combat this stage, membership in these militias should be outlawed. Their leaders should be denied visas for foreign travel. The U.N. should impose arms embargoes on governments and citizens of countries involved in genocidal massacres, and create commissions to investigate violations, as was done in post-genocide Rwanda.

The GoSL has appointed the former LTTE second in command as the Minister for National Integration and Reconciliation
source: http://www.colombopage.com/archive_09/March9153543CH.html

"Col Karuna was a senior rebel commander in eastern Sri Lanka. He was effectively number two in the Tamil Tiger military organisation."
source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7657668.stm

If the GoSL is trusting the former 2nd in command as a cabinet minister responsible for National Integration and Reconciliation, then how can one claim that the GoSL has an organized policy of murdering Tamil civilians?

POLARIZATION

Extremists drive the groups apart. Hate groups broadcast polarizing propaganda. Laws may forbid intermarriage or social interaction. Extremist terrorism targets moderates, intimidating and silencing the center. Moderates from the perpetrators’ own group are most able to stop genocide, so are the first to be arrested and killed. Prevention may mean security protection for moderate leaders or assistance to human rights groups. Assets of extremists may be seized, and visas for international travel denied to them. Coups d’état by extremists should be opposed by international sanctions.

Where there Jews in the Nazi party? As ministers?
How about the Serbs? did they have ministers who were their former enemies?

Even the buddhist extremists such as the JHU are keeping a low tone because racism is looked down on.

The president had this to say when Kilinochchi was liberated:

"One must not belittle this victory as one that has been won by one community over another. It should not be interpreted as defeat of the North by the South. This is a victory for our entire nation and country. It is a decisive victory over savage terrorism that was playing around with the blood, muscle and sinews of humans. It is a victory over venomous separatism that sought to divide people on grounds of race and religion."
source: http://www.colombopage.com/archive_09/January2135709RA.htm

President's speech during the victory day celebrations (addressed in Tamil):

Friends,
This is the Motherland of us all. We should live in this country as the children of one mother, as brothers and sisters. There can be no differences here. The war fought against the LTTE was not a war fought against the Tamil people. Our Heroic Troops sacrificed their lives to save the innocent Tamil people from the clutches of the LTTE. We cannot forget the great service rendered by them. The victory we gained defeating the LTTE, is a victory for our entire land. It is great victory you obtained. It is a victory for all who live in our country.

My dear Heroic Troops,
The war against the terrorists is now over. It is now the time to win over the hearts of the Tamil people. The Tamil speaking people should be protected. They should be able to live without fear and mistrust. That is today the responsibility of us all!
source: http://www.president.gov.lk/speech_New.asp?Id=75

PREPARATION

Victims are identified and separated out because of their ethnic or religious identity. Death lists are drawn up. Members of victim groups are forced to wear identifying symbols. Their property is expropriated. They are often segregated into ghettoes, deported into concentration camps, or confined to a famine-struck region and starved. At this stage, a Genocide Emergency must be declared. If the political will of the great powers, regional alliances, or the U.N. Security Council can be mobilized, armed international intervention should be prepared, or heavy assistance provided to the victim group to prepare for its self-defense. Otherwise, at least humanitarian assistance should be organized by the U.N. and private relief groups for the inevitable tide of refugees to come.

The GoSL is preparing for National Integration and Reconciliation and are making plans to develop the liberated / cleared territories.

“It is not enough to win a military victory. For sustainable peace we have to develop these areas. There are huge natural resources, lands, rivers and oceans that can be used. We need large amounts of money to develop these,” said Minister of Public Administration and Home Affairs Sarath Amunugama, speaking at the monthly meeting of The Sunday Times Business Club.

In the meantime, the government is already offering incentives for the private sector to enter the Eastern province and is also open to public-private partnerships. “It is too early to talk about private investments in the North right now, but there are lots of things happening where the East is concerned. The Board of Investment (BOI) has opened a special investment zone, we are giving many concessions including tax concessions and all projects will be fast tracked. So investors will not have to face delays,” said the Minister.
source: http://sundaytimes.lk/090222/FinancialTimes/ft330.html

Why would the GoSL be developing the north and the east with Tamil and Muslim leaders?

See section 3 for more citations of IDP development work. Donor agencies (UN, World Bank, ADB, etc.) are working with the GoSL in peace-building projects. Most include vocational training, knowledge centers (such as Nenasalas), etc.

The eastern province, which was liberated from the LTTE is being transformed economically and socially. Most towns in the eastern province are equipped with broadband, personal and corporate banking, mobile phone networks, running water, grid electricity, etc.

EXTERMINATION

Extermination begins, and quickly becomes the mass killing legally called “genocide.” It is “extermination” to the killers because they do not believe their victims to be fully human. When it is sponsored by the state, the armed forces often work with militias to do the killing. Sometimes the genocide results in revenge killings by groups against each other, creating the downward whirlpool-like cycle of bilateral genocide (as in Burundi). At this stage, only rapid and overwhelming armed intervention can stop genocide. Real safe areas or refugee escape corridors should be established with heavily armed international protection. (An unsafe “safe” area is worse than none at all.) The U.N. Standing High Readiness Brigade, EU Rapid Response Force, or regional forces -- should be authorized to act by the U.N. Security Council if the genocide is small. For larger interventions, a multilateral force authorized by the U.N. should intervene. If the U.N. is paralyzed, regional alliances must act. It is time to recognize that the international responsibility to protect transcends the narrow interests of individual nation states. If strong nations will not provide troops to intervene directly, they should provide the airlift, equipment, and financial means necessary for regional states to intervene.

The GoSL has ministries for rehabilitation and reintegration. Several NGOs are working towards rehabilitating and reintegrating IDP and former LTTE carders including child soldiers. The GoSL exterminated the LTTE leadership as they were a threat to all Sri Lankans, including Tamils.

DENIAL

Denial is the eighth stage that always follows a genocide. It is among the surest indicators of further genocidal massacres. The perpetrators of genocide dig up the mass graves, burn the bodies, try to cover up the evidence and intimidate the witnesses. They deny that they committed any crimes, and often blame what happened on the victims. They block investigations of the crimes, and continue to govern until driven from power by force, when they flee into exile. There they remain with impunity, like Pol Pot or Idi Amin, unless they are captured and a tribunal is established to try them. The response to denial is punishment by an international tribunal or national courts. There the evidence can be heard, and the perpetrators punished. Tribunals like the Yugoslav or Rwanda Tribunals, or an international tribunal to try the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, or an International Criminal Court may not deter the worst genocidal killers. But with the political will to arrest and prosecute them, some may be brought to justice.

Well if the above 7 did not happen, then this claim is not valid. For argument-sake let's assume that the above 7 is valid.

Are there any mass graves of civilians killed by the GoSL? Ignorant western media might fictitiously interpret cemeteries as mass graves using remote sensing.
See: http://www.kanabona.com/kanabona/?q=opinion_times_online_slaughter_in_sr...