News
Office of Reparations unveils plans for Easter Attack Victim Fund
View(s):- Chairperson Dhara Wijayatilake says all respondents have now paid the full amounts ordered by the Supreme Court, into the Fund
By Sandun Jayawardana
The Office for Reparations (OR) was established in terms of Act No. 34 of 2018 and is mandated to provide reparations to those affected by identified incidents of violence including the North East conflict, political and civil unrest. The OR’s Chairperson Dhara Wijayatilake explained that “reparations” is about interventions that seek to help victims to re establish themselves as much as possible through assistance from the OR and is one of the measures recognised within the broader context of transitional justice by many countries that have emerged from conflicts. “It is not just a case of dolling out money. Monetary relief can never be adequate to compensate losses suffered” she said. Ms Wijayatilake explained that the OR is engaged in providing psycho social relief as well as Livelihood development programmes, in addition to providing monetary relief.
After the blast: The scene at St. Sebastian's Church, Katuwapitiya, Negombo, one of the religious places that was targetted on Easter Sunday 2019
In January 2023, in its judgment on the fundamental rights actions filed by Petitioners in relation to the Easter Attack of 2019, the Supreme Court directed that fines be paid by the respondents and directed the OR to establish a Fund to which these monies should be paid. The Court also directed the OR to formulate a scheme to make payments out of the Fund. Since the establishment of The Easter Attack Victim Fund by the OR in January, 2023 in line with the SC’s judgement, a total of Rs 311 million in compensation has been deposited in the Fund in installments by the respondents as ordered by the SC. The respondents were former President Maithripala Sirisena (Rs. 100 million), former Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundara (Rs. 75 million), former Director of the State Intelligence Service Nilantha Jayawardena, former Secretary to the Ministry of Defence Hemasiri Fernando (Rs. 50 million), former Chief of National Intelligence Sisira Mendis (Rs. 10 million) and the State (Rs. 1 million).
Ms Wijayatilake confirmed that all respondents have now paid the full amounts ordered by the Supreme Court, into the Fund.
Though the Fund was established at the beginning of last year, the OR did not get all the money at the outset. “The money was trickling into the fund little by little as the respondents made the payments in installments,” said Ms Dhara Wijayatilake. In this situation, the OR’s Board prioritised victims to whom grants should be paid. “As and when the money came in, we picked the most vulnerable, the most in need of assistance and disbursed the funds to them.”
Those who were prioritised included persons certified to be totally permanently disabled, those who were partially permanently disabled, families that suffered economic loss due to the loss of a wage earning family member, families of deceased children and those who required money for medical purposes.
As at October 25, 2024, more than Rs. 62 million has been disbursed as compensation from the Fund. The majority of the fines started to come in during July, August and September this year, Ms Wijayatilake noted. Having the full picture of the amount that can be disbursed, the OR has accordingly identified five categories of victims to whom relief will be provided.
One group consists of 47 children who have lost one or both parents in the attack, or have been injured themselves or whose parent have been totally permanently disabled due to injuries suffered. These children will be granted financial relief packages to contribute to school related expenses, from preschool through to GCE Advanced Level. A lump sum will be deposited in bank accounts in their name for the duration of their secondary school education.
To provide medical support to those who require it, Ms Wijayatilake’s office has written to everyone who submitted applications for compensation, inquiring if they have any continuing medical conditions for which they require assistance.
The third category is a tertiary education support scheme for children who have lost a parent who would otherwise have provided support to pursue higher education. If there are children who have completed secondary school and need assistance to pursue further education or vocational training leading to a qualification, the OR will provide support from the Fund.
A fourth category seeks to provide financial support to elders who are impacted by the loss or injury to persons on whom they were dependent for care and financial support. Parents of those who died or those who are suffering from disabilities that prevent the pursuit of previous employment and are thereby unable to provide as previously for their parents, will be considered.
The fifth category is entrepreneurial support especially focussed on women. The Chairperson pointed out that there may be women who have had to take greater financial responsibility as a result of death of a wage-earning spouse. “If she needs additional support because of that, we will look at project plans submitted to continue or commence an entrepreneurship activity and provide support after evaluating their proposal. This is especially for women because our policy has a focus on gender,” she explained but added that it does not totally exclude deserving men who may be in the same situation.
While compensation has been paid from the Easter Attack Victim Fund since last year, Ms Wijayatilake pointed out that monetary relief for death and injuries that occurred in the attack has been paid from the Consolidated Fund of the Government from 2019 onwards. Accordingly, 720 persons have been paid more than Rs. 279 million from the Consolidated Fund. Additionally, compensation amounting to more than Rs. 21 million has been paid from the Consolidated Fund for 87 cases of damage to property sustained in the aftermath of the attack. All this is prior to establishing the special Fund and outside of payments made from the Easter Attack Victim Fund.
Ms Wijayatilake added that the OR has been extremely transparent in its payments and that in the case of the Easter attack, all relevant details of payments made from 2019 onwards can be accessed at www.reparations.gov.lk. “The OR however safeguards the identity of the beneficiary since it is important to the Office that privacy of the beneficiary is respected. Details are released only on an order of court but otherwise strict confidentiality is preserved,” she stressed.
She noted that in compliance with the Supreme Court order in its judgement in January last year, the OR conducted an investigation into allegations made that there had been underpayment and even nonpayment of compensation to victims of the attack. However, the investigation revealed that no payments had been made on “an ad hoc basis,” and that all payments were in compliance with the decisions of the Cabinet, she pointed out. That report which was submitted to the Supreme Court is available on the OR’s website and can be accessed via the “Easter Attack Victim Fund” link.
Explaining the remit of the Office for Reparations, she said that the obligation to provide reparations to victims of identified categories of violence is articulated in the Office for Reparations Act, No. 34 of 2018. She noted however that when it came to the general subject of “political victimization” the examination of those claims had commenced long before the OR was established and there was a separate committee under the Ministry of Public Administration to look into those complaints and applications that had not been finalized previously. “The Cabinet gave approval to pay compensation to those persons and the OR was not required to go into the justification or the merit of the applications. The government gave a separate allocation to pay the victims of political victimization,” she explained.
With regard to compensation payments made to victims of the May 2022 civil unrest during the ‘Aragalaya’ period, compensation amounting to more than Rs. 1 billion has been paid on account of 310 claims for damage to immovable property in 2023 and 2024 to victims of the May 2022 violence. Ms Wijayatilake explained however that this sum did not include payments to Members of Parliament because the OR did not handle their files. The money for these payments was received only last year, Ms. Wijayatilake said, explaining why payments only started being made from last year. In addition, compensation amounting to nearly Rs. 65 million has been paid in 76 cases for moveable property damage in the May 2022 violence. There is a strict scheme for payment of monetary relief. Only such amounts as are approved by the Government Valuer is paid and it is the owner that’s entitled to relief. The OR studied title reports to establish the authentic owner.
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