Sri Lanka releases political prisoners

Press, 17 November 1977, Page 16

Sri Lanka releases political prisoners

By

VIJITHA YAPA,

, in Colombo

By releasing all of 136 who were still in prison for involvement in the abortive 1971 “Che Guevara insurgency,” the Prime Minister, Mr J. R. Jayewardene has implemented one of the most controversial election pledges since he came to power on July 21, 1977. The release of the prisoners, including 34-year-old Rohana Wijeweera who was the leader of the J.V.P. (Peoples Liberation Front) popularly known as the Che Guevarists, came in the wake of the Government repealing the Criminal Justice Commission Act under which the youth were imprisoned. The Che Guevarists led an abortive insurrection in April. 1971, to try to topple Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s Government — 70,000 unemployed, frustrated youth were believed to have been involved in the attempt. They held out for six weeks against the Armed Forces but were finally defeated; 16.500 youth were either captured or surrendered under an amnesty announced by Mrs Bandaranaike. Universities were turned into prisons to house the insurgents. With many police stations destroyed and hardly any witnesses, Mrs Bandaranaike’s Government felt stronger powers were needed to punish the guilty. Thus came into being the Criminal Justice Commission Act of 1972. Hear-say evidence was

admissible, as also were statements made by suspects to law officers, even if such statements had been extracted under torture or pressure. The Act stirred much controversy, as many claimed it was an encroachment on the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution. It even led to the split of the Moscow wing Communist Party, which was the coalition partner in Mrs Bandaranaike’s Government. The C.P. president, Dr S. A. Wickremasinghe, withdrew support from the Government and voted against the Act while the C.P. secretary, Pieter Keunaman, who was then Minister of Housing, decided to remain with the Government. The Criminal Justice Commission, composed of five Supreme Court judges, heard the cases against the ‘Che Guevarists” and sentenced them to jail. But since the cost of imprisoning such large numbers was exorbitant, the Government introduced an unprecedented system where those who pleaded guilty for minor offences were' released with suspended sentences. The Che Guevarist Party, the J.V.P., was proscribed for six vears till the Emergency declared by Mrs Bandaranaike lapsed in February, 1977. The J.V.P. contested some seats in the July 21 election but failed to win any. (In fact, the Leftists who contested under the banner of

the United Left Front,- went to the polls with over 25 seats but were routed for the first time in Sri Lanka’s election history.) After his release, the J.V.P. leader, Rohana Wijeweera, said that the party would concentrate on winning power through avenues available to it. The Prime Minister, Mr Jayewardene, has a huge majority in the National State Assembly, having 140 of the 168 seats, but Sri Lanka has had a history of throwing out Governments every time elections have been held since 1952. What will Mr Jayewardene do if the J.V.P. returns to insurgent activities, I asked the Prime Minister. "They better find a hiding place first,” he replied. “I will not hesitate like Mrs Bandaranaike in 1971. I will need only 24 hours to deal with any attempt at insurgency.” But with over a million unemployed in a population of 14 million, there is an ideal situation for romantic idealist militant insurgents. The Sri Lanka Government is making intensive efforts to answer the grievances of the unemployed and has successfully sought aid from Western nations. The November Budget is expected to provide removal of foreign exchange restrictions, the first step to try and turn Sri Lanka into a mini-Singapore. Free Trade Zones are to be set up. The diversion of the Mahaveli River to the dry zone is to

be speeded up and work expected to be completed in six years, not 30. Manual labour is to be used instead of machines. But Mr Jayewardene’s weakness is that he thinks economic answers alone will solve the frustrations of youth. The action of Mr Jaye-

wardene in releasing the insurgents adds another anachronism to Sri Lanka’s politics. When the J.V.P. mounted its action in 1971, it was against a Left-leaning Government composed of Mrs Bandaranaike’s centrist S.L.F.P. The Moscow wing of the

C.P. and the Trotskyite L.S.S.P. Russia sent MiG jets to the Sri Lanka Government while China gave a grant of Rslso million in convertible currency. Leftist leaders spoke on the radio denouncing the insurgents. Now it is a Right-leaning Government which has released the insurgents.