1473 incidents have been reported to CMEV up to October 6, 2000, 69 of which were received today. Of these 802 (54.5%) are major incidents, comprising 58 Murders, 21 Attempted Murders, 195 instances of Hurt, 27 of Grievous Hurt, 280 Assaults, 158 acts of Threat & Intimidation, 25 instances of the Misuse of State Resources, 07 Robberies and 31 acts of Arson. It is significant that 309 incidents involved the use of firearms which is 21% of the total, and is much higher than in all previous elections monitored by CMEV in the past three years.

The PA is the alleged perpetrator in 749 (50.8%), the UNP in 280 (19.0%), the JVP in 12 (0.82%), persons of unknown political affiliation 380 (25.8%). Of the 1473 incidents reported, 642 (43.6%) were complaints made by UNP supporters, 446 (30.3%) by the PA, 172 (11.7%) by the JVP, and 70 (4.8%) by persons without political affiliation. Of the 446 PA complaints, 94 (21.1%) are against fellow members of the PA, pointing to the extent of in-fighting and rivalry within the People's Alliance.

In terms of geographical location, the Western Province remains the area of greatest violence with 303 incidents, followed by the North Western Province (214), Central Province (187) and Uva Province (186). Gampaha District leads the districts in violence with 138 reports, followed by Kurunegala (113), Puttalam and Colombo (101 each), and Badulla (100).

CMEV was formed in 1997 by the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), the Free Media Movement (FMM) and the Coalition Against Political Violence as an independent and non- partisan organisation to monitor the incidence of election-related violence.

CMEV has recorded 1162 incidents of election-related violence in the first 28 days of the campaign, 80 of which were reported on October 1, 2000, making it the second most violent day so far. 640 of the 1162 incidents (55.1%) are serious or major ones, and 522 (44.9%) are relatively minor incidents. The reports received on September 29^th, September 30^th, October 1^st and October 2^nd – the four most violent days of the campaign by far – include 24 Murders, 05 Attempted Murders, 36 records of Hurt, 06 instances of Grievous Hurt, 67 Assaults, 23 acts of Threat & Intimidation, 05 cases of the Misuse of State Resources, 01 Robbery, and 07 instances of Arson.

It is clear that the level of violence has increased both qualitatively and quantitatively in the past week, which has accounted for 41% of all incidents recorded so far, and for 65% of the deaths reported.

The cumulative count of incidents reported to CMEV so far, and their desegregation by type and alleged perpetrator is as follows:

[*28 of these murders are believed to be the result of LTTE suicide attacks.]

Of these 1162 complaints, 517 (44.5%) were reported by supporters of the UNP, 345 (29.7%) by supporters of the PA, 143 (12.3%) by the JVP, and 57 (05.9%) by persons without any known political affiliation. 73 (21.2%) of the PA’s 345 complaints were directed against supporters of the PA itself, the only significant examples of intra-party rivalry recorded in this campaign.

The PA’s alleged share of the violence is 605 incidents or 52.1% which is nearly three times the UNP’s contribution of 227 (19.5%). Persons of unknown political affiliation are being held accountable for 281 (24.2%), the JVP for 09and the EPRLF for 08 incidents. In terms of the major incidents alone, the PA is allegedly responsible for 55.3% and the UNP for 20.6%. If you consider only the major incidents in which the alleged perpetrator has been identified, the PA and UNP taken together account for 94.6% of all complaints.

Regionally, the Western and North-Western remain the most violent areas, recording 230 and 185 incidents respectively. Sabaragamuwa is the least volatile of the provinces, but it too has crossed the 100 mark. In terms of districts, Gampaha has produced 117 incidents, Puttalam 97 and Kurunegala 88. Outside the North-East, the lowest number of incidents has been recorded from Ratnapura and Hambantota (30 each), but the types of incidents recorded even in these areas do not leave any room for complacency as regards polling day. In general, the escalation of violence has affected all of the districts adversely, creating a climate of tension and fear among ordinary voters.

The suicide attack on an SLMC meeting at Muttur in the Trincomalee district at around 6.30 pm on October 2^nd resulted in the deaths of at least 21 persons including SLMC candidate Mohammed Vaithullah and injuries to over 60. Ethnic tensions in the area are at their peak at the moment, and may result in Muslim-Tamil clashes in the ethnically balanced Trincomalee district.

In the Badulla district Mahiyangana is proving to be a most violent area, today’s murder of UNPer Wilbert Perera, allegedly by PA supporters being only the most recent episode in a campaign of terror. Mr Perera died on the spot of gunshot injuries at Keselpotha where he was assisting in the preparation of a UNP election meeting at 1.00 pm on October 2^nd. His assailants who destroyed the makeshift stage and trashed the motorcycles parked in the vicinity, allegedly included PA Pradeshiya Sabha members Sisira Kumara and R M Jayaweera.

At 1.30 pm this same gang had moved on to Tissapura and allegedly shot at UNP Pradeshiya Sabha member H M Upali Senaratne in the stomach. Mr Senaratne is currently in the Kandy Hospital in critical condition. Both the PA Pradeshiya Sabha members are close associates of PA candidate Dilan Perera whose coordinating secretary told CMEV that this was a frame-up, and that neither Mr Perera nor his associates were involved in these attacks.

CMEV’s records indicate, however, that since September12, 2000, 11 incidents allegedly involving Dilan Perera and/or his associates have taken place in the Mahiyangana electorate. Most of these incidents involved the use of automatic weapons and included threats to rival candidates or supporters of other parties.

Jaffna Peninsula

The situation in the Jaffna peninsula visited by CMEV on September 28 and 29, 2000 remains non-conducive for the conduct of a free and fair election. In fact, the offensive and counter-offensive (launched by the LTTE on Sep 28^th) has resulted in significant displacement of civilian populations in the Thenmarachchi area and indications on the ground are that this will increase greatly in the days to come. The heavy shelling and counter-shelling in this final phase of the campaign renders even faint hopes for minimal ground conditions for an election untenable.

Notwithstanding the military context, it appeared to CMEV that even administratively the election will face severe problems.

1. Arrangements to transport voters from camps and other temporary habitations to their home polling stations are dependent on the availability of adequate numbers of buses in the region. It does not appear that these requirements can be met, given the current military situation.
2. Even the alternate polling centres for displaced voters and clustered polling centres for voters in "uncleared" areas have not been finalized yet, or so CMEV was informed by the Commissioner of Elections on September 29, 2000. However, according to "unofficial" information received by CMEV, the clustered polling centres do not appear to provide a reasonable or equal opportunity for voters in the "uncleared" areas, as well as for those who have been displaced on both the long- and short-term. For instance, the provision of one and only one composite polling centre at Jaffna Hindu College for 37 gazetted polling centres in the "uncleared" Kilinochchi area is a mere charade, given the fact that voters of these centres must travel many miles across the forward defence lines along which a fierce battle is being waged in order to cast their ballot.
   
   
3. Three incidents relating to the snatching of polling cards have been recorded from the peninsula, amounting to well over 1500 polling cards. In addition, due to the fact that voter lists have not been systematically updated since1981 to account for outward migration, the total registered voter population is over 625,000 while the entire current population in the peninsula is approximately 450,000.

Postal Voting

Issues concerning postal votes are twofold. The first set of complaints relates to the non-receipt of ballots by those who have applied for them. The preliminary information received by CMEV indicates that over 50% of applications made have not been received to date.

For instance, at the Jaffna Police Station, of approximately 275 persons working 156 applied for postal voting facilities. Of these applications 20 were rejected for various reasons such as clerical errors in filling out the application form. However, of the balance 136, only 50 had been received by the OIC up to September 29, 2000. The 86 "missing" postal ballots constitute 63% of the total eligible votes. Similar reports have reached CMEV from other institutions within the peninsula and elsewhere.

The second issue concerns individual cases of violence at the postal voting centres. 12 serious incidents have been reported to CMEV from the electorates of Kuliyapitiya, Kurunegala, Mawanella, Ududumbara (02), Wattegama, Hanguranketa (02), Badulla, Negombo, Divulapitiya and Panadura, and it is significant that in each case the alleged perpetrators are PA supporters. At the Wattegama Depot, UNP candidate Keheliya Rambukwella alleges that all his supporters who had come to cast their postal votes were chased away by PA gangs. This charge was denied by Wattegama OIC U C Nawalage. In Hanguranketa two UNP representatives were beaten up, allegedly by members of the PA.

Similarly, at the Negombo Depot the UNP representative was assaulted inside the postal voting centre. This incident was corroborated by the police officer on duty at the time. At the Mawanella Depot the UNP representatives were chased out by PA supporters who intimidated voters to cast their ballot in favour of the PA. The JVP representatives who were present at that time corroborated this allegation, adding that neither the Depot Superintendent nor the SPO did anything to prevent the incident.

 
Attack on Party Offices

CMEV has received complaints that 96 regional and local party offices have been attacked during the campaign so far. Though many of these are, in fact, makeshift structures and not officially registered offices, it is nonetheless a serious indicator of the level and extent of violence that such a significant number of these incidents have been reported, since the violence seeks to strike at the very heart of an opponent’s election campaign.

It is also significant that the otherwise relatively less violent Southern Province has recorded the highest incidence of attacks on rival party offices, and this may be a more accurate indicator of the electoral climate than the mere aggregate of incidents. A notable feature of these attacks is the reluctance of the aggrieved party to make an official police complaint.

A number of reasons have been adduced to explain this, which include the fact that many of these offices are not officially registered. CMEV, however, considers the main reason to be the fact that none of the parties wish to acknowledge their weakness vis-à-vis another, and in this sense to make official complaints will be to publicise their vulnerability as well as, in their view, to give added importance to the incident.

 
Issues Concerning the Police

In summary, CMEV has encountered some level of difficulty in obtaining information and support from 15 police stations islandwide. Political parties too have made complaints to CMEV regarding the partisan behaviour of some police officers. The most serious concerns are the allegation of murder against the HQI Matale, KC Hapuarachchi, who is also the brother-in-law of PA candidate for Matale, Minister Nandimithra Ekanayake, and the well-documented instances of systematic collusion between the OIC Puttalam, IP OKD Gunadasa and PA candidate DM Dassanayake. In addition, there are complaints that the Akkaraipattu Police Station displays a strong bias in favour of the SLMC, in recording complaints, follow-up investigation and even in the provision of information.

Here too, in general, the most violent areas are precisely those in which the Police has acted in a partisan and unprofessional manner, providing virtual immunity to many prominent perpetrators, while denying even basic rights and justice to some of the victims.

The crass interference of PA political leaders in police affairs has resulted in sharply opposing and contradictory outcomes in different instances, where uniformity and consistency are necessary for the restoration of public faith in the forces of law and order. The most glaring example is the contrast between the modus operandi for the accelerated release on Rs 25,000/- personal bail of Deputy Defence Minister Anuruddha Ratwatte’s son Chanuka Ratwatte against whom there were allegations of shooting at UNP candidate Keheliya Rambukwella at the Getambe junction on September 24^th, and the extended incarceration of the UNP’s Rohitha Bogollagama from September 20^th onwards on charges of an incident that allegedly took place in December 1999 despite the fact that the Appeal Court has ruled that he be released on bail.

The Galnewa, Eppawela, Talawa, and Galenbindunuwewa Police Stations in the Anuradhapura District have continuously displayed partisan support towards the People’s Alliance during this campaign. It is with regret that we record that CMEV has experienced no cooperation, and even at times distinct hostility, from the officials of some of these police stations. The JVP’s Anuradhapura Office too has officially complained of its dissatisfaction with the Galnewa Police in relation to their handling of the assault of JVP supporter Upali Dharmaratne at his cycle shop on September 18^th.They allege that the recording of complaints is delayed and the complaints are not recorded in an impartial manner.

In the Nuwara Eliya District, an incident that took place on October 1, 2000 at the Agrapatana town bazaar provides an example where the Police appear to be powerless in the face of armed militias and influential politicians. The Up Country People’s Front meeting in the town bazaar turned into a full-fledged battle between over 200 CWC and UCPF cadres who fought each other for one-and-a-half hours in the heart of the town.

The police attempted to intervene by using teargas and by firing into the air, but eye-witnesses indicated to CMEV that the police officers themselves were stoned by the mobs. One person, UCPF supporter F Kalimuttu received serious injuries in the fracas and has been warded at the Kandy Hospital where he is scheduled to undergo an eye operation to rectify the damage to his retina by stoning. The OIC Police Mr Chaminda Pinto told CMEV that he lacked adequate manpower to bring the situation under control and that his men had received injuries in the incident.

 
Misuse of State Resources

The unchecked misuse of state resources has marked the ruling People’s Alliance campaign in these elections. Though CMEV’s next report will highlight these abuses in detail, the blatant misuse of government vehicles and personnel in the North-Central Province requires special mention in this bulletin. In the Anuradhapura District, for instance, over 25 Provincial Council vehicles are being deployed on a full-time basis to run the campaign of the Chief Minister’s 21-year-old son Duminda Dissanayake. Vehicles, staff and fuel are obtained gratis and without the need for any official sanction.

In similar vein in the Polonnaruwa District, Mahaweli Minister and PA candidate Maithripala Sirisena has at his disposal over 25 vehicles from the Mahaweli Authority and related agencies, together with their staff and supplies. Vehicles sans number plates are also used in the campaign. In addition, Mahaweli Security officers are allegedly working full-time on Mr Sirisena’s campaign and have been involved in the alleged attacks on UNP supporters in the area. What is most blatant is the fact that most of Mr Sirisena’s campaign activities are coordinated and implemented from the Mahaweli Development Ministry offices in the region.

CMEV was formed in 1997 by the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), the Free Media Movement (FMM) and the Coalition Against Political Violence as an independent and non- partisan organisation to monitor the incidence of election-related violence.

Dr. P. Saravanamuttu CMEV

Bandula Padmakumara CMEV

Dr. Arjuna Parakrama CMEV