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Where death is not a great leveller
The rich and the powerful get compensation big and fast-but the poor wait and wait

By Chandani Kirinde, Faraza Farook and Christopher Kamalendran
The Constitution of Sri Lanka guarantees that everyone is equal before the law and is entitled to the equal protection of the law. "No citizen shall be discriminated against on the grounds of race, religion, language, caste, sex, political opinion, place of birth or any one of such grounds".

Sadly he's Azeez not Ashraff
Twenty-three-year old M.M. Azeez was to take up a post as lecturer at the South Eastern University on September 18, but fate had other plans. Two days before his appointment date, he died.

Mr. Azeez was among 17 people who boarded the MI 24 along with former Minister M.H.M. Ashraff, The helicopter crashed at Aranayaka on September 16, 2000 on its way to Ampara.

The crash left no survivors and Azeez was one of the victims. While some of the victims' families received compensation, others received only a funeral allowance of Rs. 10,000. Mr. Azeez's family received Rs. 10,000 and was promised compensation in due course. However, more than two years after his death, the due course is still the due course.

His father, Meera Mohideen still grieving over his son's death said they were counting on Mr. Azeez to bring additional income to the family through his new job. "If not for the crash, my son would be here and we would be financially well off. But now it's just my income and it's hardly enough".

Mr. Mohideen was employed abroad during the time of his son's death. He said Mr. Azeez was a close supporter of Mr. Ashraff and got a placement at the University through him.

The case of W.M. Ranasinghe was no different. Mr. Ranasinghe died in a bomb blast in a private bus at Kebethigollewa on November 27, 2000. A father of three, Mr. Ranasinghe was employed at the Department of Irrigation in Padaviya.

His wife and three children aged 14, 12 and 7, have not received any compensation to date.

"The Divisional Secretary got the application forms for compensation filled and our signatures on various documents, but we haven't heard anything since," a family member said.

The family received Rs. 10,000 as funeral expenses from the Divisional Secretary, but has not received anything in terms of compensation.

However, this very basic of rights is blatantly violated by the state itself in the discriminatory manner in which it compensates victims of terrorist attacks and violence. A Sunday Times investigation revealed several families of victims have been deprived of compensation for death, injury or loss of property where as it has been a cake walk for those categorized as VIP solely due to their political affiliations.

While public servants and the people are faced with bureaucratic delays, politicians have been handsomely rewarded millions of rupees with the easy passage of the funds through a Cabinet decision. The latest such beneficiaries were the wife and son of the late SLMC leader and Minister M.H.M. Ashraff. They were paid seven million rupees by a special Cabinet paper two weeks ago.

Another such controversial compensation payment followed the death of Minister C.V. Gooneratne and his wife. Twenty-three others died in the same blast in Dehiwela, but not all the affected families have been compensated.
The Gooneratne children were paid 4.5 million rupees amidst an outcry from families of other victims who were paid only a funeral allowance of Rs. 10,000. While VIPs are paid exorbitant handouts, ordinary people are deprived with officials involved in payments claiming a severe shortage of funds.

The Rehabilitation of Persons, Properties and Industrial Authority (REPPIA) which assists persons affected by war, ethnic violence, terrorist attacks and those who are displaced due to security operations in all parts of the country except the North, states it is faced with a serious shortage of funds.

"We are in need of more than Rs. 850 million to settle death, injury and property compensation claims alone. But we have less than Rs. five million allocated for this year," REPPIA Deputy Director V. Hussein said. He said since the signing of the ceasefire agreement, the number of applications for compensation had increased.

Of the thousands of cases pending payment, many come from poor families.

The case of Manjula Wickremasinghe (33), a mother of a six-year-old boy is a classic example of the discrimination that the ordinary man or woman faces after being a victim of violence. Having lost one eye during the Central Bank bomb blast, Manjula received only Rs. 12,500 from the government as compensation.

"My other eye is getting weaker and I have to constantly wet my eyes to keep them clean from dust and tiredness. Otherwise, I suffer from blackouts". Manjula's little finger on the right hand is broken, but the government is refusing to pay compensation. "It took a year to get Rs. 12,500. I was sent from one place to another and I was pregnant at the time. If I am to fight for more, I'll have to suffer for years," she said.

Manjula argues that she is entitled to a higher compensation having lost an eye and the sight in the other eye rapidly deteriorating. "I often feel the gravity of the loss of sight. Sometimes when I cross the road, there are drivers shouting at me 'are you blind?' and it makes me depressed".

Twenty nine-year old Jonisten Jesudhasan is in a waiting list for surgery at the Colombo National Hospital. In 1993, Jesudhasan and his friend in an attempt to leave Vavuniya to flee to Madhu were caught in an artillery shell attack at Thandikulam. Mr. Jesudhasan's friend died on the spot while he received severe injuries to his legs and body.

Shrapnel from the blast is still inside in his body, especially in his leg, making it difficult for him to walk or stand for long. "I lost everything - my home, my business - everything. I was in hospital for more than a year and with more surgeries to be done to remove shrapnel, I have been put on a waiting list. Doctors say that my legs won't be normal even after surgery," Mr. Jesudhasan laments.

Although Mr. Jesudhasan applied for compensation and was promised payment, nearly a decade after the incident he still waits hoping that the government would sooner or later make some payment.

Eighteen-year-old Gopal Ruhulan is paralysed below the waist and is receiving treatment at the Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Hospital in Ragama. A victim of the North East war, Gopal was ten years' old when he lost his mother, grandmother, brother and sister in a tragedy in Jaffna.

Kandiah Gopalakrishnan (53), Gopal's father, also suffered injuries to his neck and arm during the attack. The injuries had left Kandiah unable to do any heavy work and with his son disabled, he is full time engaged in taking care of Gopal. Kandiah also suffers from memory loss after the blast.

Kandiah's wife was pregnant at the time of her death. Although both Kandiah and Gopal lost all their family members, the government paid them only Rs. 50,000. According to the compensation scheme, Kandiah is entitled compensation for the loss of each family member, but his appeals have fallen on dead ears.

The doctor's report given to Gopal clearly states that he has lost 100 percent earning capacity, but he has received no compensation. Kandiah relies on funds from NGOs and philanthropists to pay fortests and surgeries for Gopal.

It is only the victims and their families who know the difficulties faced in getting what is rightfully theirs. The tedious procedure involved in making an application itself delays the process. Medical reports, Coroner's report, post mortem report, certification from the Grama Sevaka, the Divisional Secretary and a JP (Justice of Peace) are some of the essentials required in making an application.

It is little wonder that the people's faith in the Constitution which enshrines all their rights is fast deteriorating and is seen more as a set of words limited to paper or to the rich and powerful elite.

Governments come and go but not compensation
Several thousands of victims of election related violence are another group of people awaiting their dues.

They are qualified under a 1998 scheme which has retrospective effect from 1977.

The pending cases for those affected by election violence in the death and injury category stand at 421 while those in the property damage category stand at 5,891.

The amounts required to settle the pending claims stands at a little over Rs14.7 million for the death and injury victims while Rs300 million is needed for the property loss claims.

However REPPIA has enough funds within its budget allocations for 2003 to settle the claims of only 25 death and injury claimants and only four in the property compensation category.

Millions of rupees have already been paid out since the introduction of this scheme, which covers those affected by election violence starting from the day of nomination in relation to all general, presidential, provincial and local government elections since 1977 and the 1982 referendum.. The scheme also covers victims of election related violence that occurs within a month after the conclusion of a poll.

The total amount paid upto last year was Rs 4.5 million in the death and injury category in respect of 83 cases while Rs37.3 million has been paid in respect of 790 cases of property damage.

Last year alone, a total of Rs1.8 million was paid for death and injury victims of election violence while the property compensation paid for the period stood at Rs 2.06 million.

Those considered for payment of compensation under this scheme are both successful and unsuccessful candidates, approved election agents i.e. agents at polling booths and members of the public who suffer death or injury as a result of election related violence.

The maximum compensation that is paid for candidates (successful/unsuccessful) is Rs. 500,000 (death) Rs.150,000 (injury), approved election agent Rs. 100, 000 (death) Rs. 75,000 (injury), and those not coming under these two categories Rs. 50,000 (death/injury).


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