Women and Conflict

Colombo, (Women's Feature Service)- Sri Lankan women's groups are looking forward to a meaningful role in the current peace negotiations with cautious optimism.

This war-torn island is currently in the process of yet another peace negotiation following civil strife for almost two decades, ever since the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE) began their struggle for a separate Tamil homeland they call Eelam. Several cease-fire agreements over the last few years have broken down. But with the coming to power of the United National Party in December 2001, a cease-fire agreement was forged which has lasted till now, making peace look like a possibility.

This time round, women's groups have been vocal about the need for women to play a role in the peace process. Collectively, the groups feel their experiences have to be reflected in the negotiations through various phases of transition to peace and reconstruction of society, and post-peace agreements.

Women from all over the country - activists, academics, writers, poets and musicians representing all the ethnic groups, the working classes, and the families of servicemen - met in Colombo some time ago to make recommendations for the peace process from a women's perspective. Their concerns were articulated in a memorandum accepted by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in July.

The memorandum was also presented to President Chandrika Kumaratunge, the LTTE at Kilinochchi in the North, and also to the Norwegian facilitators. "The LTTE has not yet given us a date for discussions," says Dr Sepali Kottegoda, one of the women who drafted the memorandum. Kottegoda and others, who met the Prime Minister, are pleased at his "very positive" response. "We hope our demand to be represented at policy decisions will become a reality."

The memorandum is based on three key demands: women to be included in all aspects of the peace process, women's issues and concerns to form an integral part of the peace agenda, and full protection of human rights at every stage of the peace process. Three non-governmental organisations (NGOs) - the International Centre for Ethnic Studies, the Gender Unit of the Social Scientists' Association and the Media Collective - facilitated the memorandum. Women's participation, they feel, would make the process more democratic and responsive to the priorities of the affected population.

The areas of particular concern to women have been identified. The memorandum calls upon the government and the LTTE to address the substantive issues and formulate specialised programmes for these areas. These include: violence and sexual violence against women, refugees, displaced women, women in custody, war widows, families of detainees, families of those missing, women combatants and women in the armed forces, trafficking and forced prostitution, and other issues related to land and social rights of women.

"At the meeting with the Prime Minister we expressed the fact that the current high levels of domestic violence, rape and sexual harassment are directly linked to a climate of impunity encouraged by the war. Peace efforts should directly address this problem and special measures should be taken to counter militarisation and its negative effects," says Rohini Weerasinghe.

Women from areas directly affected by the war are most concerned about the role of women in the monitoring and enforcement of the cease-fire agreement. So far there has been no neutral civilian representation on any monitoring committee and no presence of women, except for one Scandinavian. The memorandum notes: "Women should be represented in the monitoring mission committees and all members of monitoring committees should be trained to respond effectively to the complaints brought by women. The present monitoring committees should be restructured to include independent monitors."

The concerns and needs of Muslim and Sinhala communities living in the war-affected areas, and the Tamils and Muslims living elsewhere in the country have also been reflected in the memorandum. All those involved in the peace process have been urged to ensure that the rights of local communities and ethnic groups and the rights of women in these communities are protected.

Despite optimism about a meaningful role for women in the process, there is still hesitation and doubt among many women, even those who actively contributed to preparing the memorandum.

Says Jezima Ismail, Chairperson of the Sri Lanka Muslim Women's Conference: "Women have not been consulted at a formal level so far. As a Muslim, I feel the part played by Muslims - and women in particular - in national affairs has not been taken into account. This is important in a pluralistic society and women's role must be given far more prominence than has happened so far."