Sivasakhty's wedding album

One of the people still trapped in the war’s net is Selvaraja Sivasakthy.  She grew up in a prosperous Tamil family around Jaffna, surrounded by seven older sisters and brothers, who nearly all married and moved abroad.  In May 2008, in an arranged wedding, Sivasakthy was married to the son of a prominent Tamil family from Canada.  Her mother, widowed since 1997, payed her hefty dowry, and the union was sealed in Singapore, since the new husband’s family was not allowed to return to Sri Lanka due to alleged ties to the Tamil Tigers.  Before moving in with her in-laws in Canada, all Sivasakthy needed to do was return to Sri Lanka to finalize her immigration papers.

Sivasakhty's mother and brother in their Colombo apartment.

Within a few days of arriving, Sri Lankan police arrested Sivasakthy on charges of terrorism.  The accusation stated that a bank card in her name was used in a financial transaction linked to the Tamil Tigers.  She has been in remand prison in Colombo ever since.  Sivasakthy’s 71 year-old mother has payed large sums to lawyers, who took her money, suggested her daughter plead guilty, and never provided any further services. She has now spent everything the family ever had to get her daughter out of prison.  Recently she was forced to pawn her last pieces of jewelry to pay for a small apartment she needs to rent in Colombo to be near her daughter.  Sivasakthy’s brother, the only sibling left in Sri Lanka, developed a serious mental illness from the stress of having his sister arrested.  He is now unable to work, and his ailing mother must take care of him.

JusticeMakers Fellow Harshi Perera meets with Selvaraja Sivasakhty’s mother and brother

As for the new husband in Canada, according to a family friend, he took the dowry, had the wedding annulled, and returned home.  He is now re-married, and wants nothing to do with Sivasakthy and her family. Sivasakthy’s siblings in Europe and North America do not want to return to Sri Lanka for fear of arrest.  Only one of her brothers in Canada sends money occasionally to support his mother.

During the meeting, more bills arrive for Sivasakhty’s mother to pay.

A friend at Welikada Prison Women’s Ward recommended Sivasakthy’s case to JusticeMaker Fellow, Harshi Perera, from the organization Janasansadaya (The People’s Forum).  As part of her project for JusticeMakers, Harshi provides legal aid to women who have been waiting in remand prison for longer than necessary and need assistance to bring their cases before a judge.  To gather more information on the circumstances surrounding Sivasakthy’s arrest, she tracked down her mother and brother in their Colombo apartment.

The three room apartment is completely devoid of furniture.  Only a few piles of clothing in one room betray the human occupation of this space.  Sivasakhty’s mother unrolls a mat on which she sits with her son and Harshi.  She holds in her hands the only thing that bears witness to the family’s former prosperity – a large leather-bound album from Sivasakthy’s wedding.  Obviously no expenses had been spared for the celebration.  On these pages, the beautiful young bride, decorated with silk and flowers, flirts with the camera.  The elderly woman stares blankly as she flips the pages, and her son, sitting next to her, rocks his body in silence.Harshi and Sivasakhty’s mother communicate through a Sihalese-Tamil translator, and exchange documentation about the case.  A court date is coming up soon.  Harshi writes down the necessary details to look for a lawyer who can attend the hearing, and prevent Sivasakhty from being returned to prison without any progress in her case.

Harshi Perera communicates through a Tamil-Singhalese interpreter.

A few days later, Harshi visits Sivasakhty at the Welikada Prison Women’s Ward.  She questions her about her arrest and about conditions in prison.  The young woman is in good spirits, has pleaded not guilty, and is anxious to get out of jail.  She agrees to Harshi’s offer of legal aid.  With this information in hand, Harshi can now find a lawyer to provide assistance to Sivasakhty and finally see this case move forward in court.  With the legal process set in motion at last, one more chapter in the ugly history of Sri Lanka’s civil war could finally come to an end.

Gayan Mangala

In 2007, as a student in a Buddhist school, a teacher asked Gayan to go from class to class to gather names for an upcoming school trip.  In one classroom, the teacher felt that Gayan had disturbed him, and responded by hitting him repeatedly on the back of the head.  When Gayan asked him why he is hitting him, the teacher answered with a renewed round of battery.

Gayan went to protest to the school principal, a Buddhist monk, who in turn defended the teacher’s actions and asked Gayan to return to class.  Gayan complained of severe head pains and blurred vision, but his request for medical attention was ignored.  He asked permission to go home, but the principal refused, saying he would probably go to the police to complain, so they would keep him as long as they could.

Finally in the evening Gayan was able to return home.  He started vomiting, and his parents brought him to the hospital.  He was given medical treatment, kept overnight and released a day later.  He went to the police to file a complaint against the teacher who had hit him, but the Police took the side of the teacher, told him to return to school and forget about it.  In school, he faced intimidation tactics by the principal and the teachers, who tried to have him expelled for having reported them.  When he tried to complain to the police a second time, he found the assaulting teacher and the school principal at the Police station, working together with the officers, to make sure this case was never reported.

According to Gayan, since the school principal was also a Buddhist monk, he had a lot of power in the community.  Police officers felt it was more important to obey and protect him, than to do what was right for Gayan, a simple student, and pursue this case.

Gayan's relatives listening to him retell his story.

Left with no other option, Gayan went to Janasansadaya (The People’s Forum) to seek legal aid.  Janasansadaya provided him with a lawyer, helped him file an official complaint with the Sri Lankan Human Rights Commission, and bring the case to court.  Since then, the assaulting teacher has been trying to negotiate a settlement out of court with Gayan, and has paid him some compensation money.  However Gayan intends to push on with the case, until it is taken to court, regardless of the settlement offers.

As an organization that works to eliminate violence and torture in Sri Lanka, Janasansadaya felt it was important for them to get involved in this case.  “Corporal Punishment is prohibited by law in Sri Lanka, and that applies at all levels, including schools,” says JusticeMakers Fellow and Janasansadaya lawyer, Harshi Perera.  “Violence in schools affects the students both physically and mentally.  I myself, like many others, was subjected to corporal punishment in my school years, and I am glad that through Janasansadaya, I can now work to protect today’s children from ill treatment in school.”

Since this incident, Gayan has passed his Advanced Level Exams from the Buddhist school with the highest marks in his class, and is now doing an external university degree.  He continues to work with Janasansadaya to inform the public of his ordeal, of abuse of authority in schools and the lack of protection offered by the police.  He hopes in this way to empower people to report and fight against unnecessary violence that was committed in the name of respect and authority.

Gayan organizes a seminar for his friends, family and neighbors, with the help of Janasansadaya, to discuss human rights' issues.