Addressing the Needs of the Affected Population through the Right to Memorialization

Thiveegabalan Chanthirakumar
BA in Social Sciences (OUSL)
Masters in Regional Development and Planning (UoC), LL. B (UoL)

Gannasegaram Thivviya
BA, Diploma in Counselling

Antony Jecob Nitharsan
BA in Social Work

Even after the internal armed conflict ended in Mullivaikal, Mullaitivu Sri Lanka has continued to witness large-scale violations of human rights up to the present day. The change in the political environment affects the continuity of meaningful reconciliatory processes in the country, and in this respect, every government made promises to establish mechanisms to deal with the past with a particular focus on the 30-year armed conflict. The impact of the operation of those mechanisms remains uncertain. Memorialization is an important tool in addressing the needs of the affected population such as psychosocial needs, legal needs, and administrative needs. Memorialization initiatives can be a great healer and an enabler of reconciliation, paving ways and opportunities for dialogue, understanding, apologizing, acknowledging, avoiding recurrence and addressing the negative impact of past violence in divided societies. Further, these initiatives can address grievances that are not captured fully by the entities or mechanisms promised by the government, while bringing together communities who have suffered violations —for instance enforced disappearances, which were common not only during the 30-year conflict, but also during the two Southern insurrections.

This paper is based on desk research and three focus group discussions in areas affected by the armed conflict and other situations of violence. Based on this, it recommends that state and non-state actors recognize the right to memorialization. Thereafter, a commemorative day should be adopted to bring together victims and alleged perpetrators, and official monuments and memorials should be built in the most affected areas. Monuments that do not cost an undue amount, and aptly named schools, roads, hospitals and public markets in memory of loved ones or events that occurred, should be built as symbolic collective reparation. Memorialization has great potential to heal and connect divided societies as much as to divide and reignite suppressed feelings of hate, revenge and inequality.