Conflict and Peacebuilding in Sri Lanka: Caught in the Peace Trap?

257 Pages·2011·1.305 MB·English

by  Jonathan Goodhand, Benedikt Korf, Jonathan Spencer

Conflict and Peacebuilding
in Sri Lanka
The period between 2001 and 2006 saw the rise and fall of an internationally
supported effort to bring a protracted violent conflict in Sri Lanka to a peaceful
resolution. A ceasefire agreement, signed in February 2002, was followed by six
rounds of peace talks, but growing political violence, disagreements over core
issues and a fragmentation of the constituencies of the key parties led to an even-
tual breakdown. In the wake of the failed peace process a new government pursued
a highly effective ‘war for peace’ leading to the military defeat of the LTTE on the
battlefields of the northeast in May 2009. This book brings together a unique range
of perspectives on this problematic and ultimately unsuccessful peace process.
The contributions are based upon extensive field research and have been written
by leading Sri Lankan and international researchers and practitioners. The frame-
work of ‘liberal peacebuilding’ provides an analytical starting point for exploring
the complex and unpredictable interactions between international and domestic
players during the war–peace–war period. The lessons drawn from the Sri Lankan
case have important implications in the context of wider debates on the ‘liberal
peace’ and post-conflict peacebuilding – particularly as these debates have largely
been shaped by the ‘high profile’ cases such as Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq.
This book is of interest not only to Sri Lanka specialists but also to the wider
policy/practitioner audience, and is a useful contribution to South Asian studies.
Jonathan Goodhand is a Reader in Conflict and Development Studies at the
School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. His research
focuses on the political economy of conflict and the role of international aid, with
a particular focus on NGOs.
Jonathan Spencer is Professor of the Anthropology of South Asia at the
University of Edinburgh. He has carried out fieldwork in Sri Lanka since the early
1980s, concentrating at first on rural change and local politics, but writing more
recently on ethnic conflict, political violence and political non-violence.
Benedikt Korf is Associate Professor in the Department of Geography, University
of Zurich, Switzerland. His interests focus on the politics of violence, authority
and disorder in Sri Lanka and Ethiopia. He has also worked as a consultant for
several aid agencies in Sri Lanka.

Conflict and Peacebuilding
in Sri Lanka
Caught in the peace trap?
Edited by Jonathan Goodhand,
Jonathan Spencer and
Benedikt Korf
First published 2011
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2011.

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© 2011 Jonathan Goodhand, Jonathan Spencer and Benedikt Korf for
selection and editorial matter; individual contributors, their contribution.
The right of Jonathan Goodhand, Jonathan Spencer and Benedikt Korf to be
identified as editors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance
with the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Conflict and peacebuilding in Sri Lanka : caught in the peace trap? / edited
by Jonathan Goodhand, Jonathan Spencer and Benedikt Korf.
p. cm. -- (Routledge contemporary South Asia series ; 38)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Sri Lanka--History--Civil War, 1983–2009--Peace. 2. Peace-building-
-Sri Lanka. 3. Conflict management--Sri Lanka. 4. Sri Lanka--Foreign
relations. 5. Sri Lanka--Politics and government--1978– 6. Sri Lanka--
Ethnic relations. I. Goodhand, Jonathan. II. Spencer, Jonathan, 1954– III.
Korf, Benedikt.
DS489.84C673 2010 954.9303'2--dc22
2010021613
ISBN 0-203-83824-6(cid:13)Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 978-0-415-46604-2 (hbk)
ISBN 978-0-203-83824-2 (ebk)
Contents
List of tables and figures vii
Acronyms viii
List of contributors x
Acknowledgements xiv
1 Caught in the peace trap? 1
JONATHAN GOODHAND AND BENEDIKT KORF
2 Government–LTTE peace negotiations in 2002–2005 and
the clash of state formation projects 16
JAYADEVA UYANGODA
3 The Indian factor in the peace process and conflict
resolution in Sri Lanka 39
S.I. KEETHAPONCALAN
4 Superpowers and small conflicts 54
JEFFREY LUNSTEAD
5 The military dynamics of the peace process and its
aftermath 74
CHRIS SMITH
6 Would the real Dutugemunu please stand up? 92
DAVID RAMPTON WITH ASANGA WELIKALA
7 Whose war? Whose peace? 106
LIZ PHILIPSON
8 The genealogy of Muslim political voices in Sri Lanka 119
NICK LEWER AND MOHAMMED ISMAIL
vi Contents
9 Politics of market reforms and the UNF-led negotiations 132
SUNIL BASTIAN
10 An insider’s view of donor support for the
Sri Lankan peace process, 2000–2005 150
ADAM BURKE AND ANTHEA MULAKALA
11 Muddling the peace process 168
GEORG FRERKS AND BART KLEM
12 In the balance? 183
OLIVER WALTON WITH PAIKIASOTHY SARAVANAMUTTU
13 Reflections on an illiberal peace 201
JONATHAN SPENCER
References 213
Index 229
List of tables and figures
Tables
4.1 Foreign Military Financing (FMF) funding 2004–2009 57
4.2 Aid funding 1999–2009 58
9.1 Selected economic indicators 136
9.2 Performance of the UNP in PR elections 137
9.3 Indicators of regional inequality 141
9.4 Selected indicators of foreign aid 2000–2003 144
12.1 Overview of civil society peace activities 187
Figures
10.1 Donor flows to Sri Lanka, 2005 154
11.1 Schematic overview of violent conflict and tsunami 168
11.2 Aid disbursements to Sri Lanka 177
Acronyms
ADB Asian Development Bank
ACTU All-Ceylon Trade Union Federation (Labour Union)
AID Agency for International Development (US funding)
APRC All Party Representative Committee
ATA Anti-Terrorism Assistance Program (US)
CFA Ceasefire Agreement
CSO Civil Society Organization
DFID Department for International Development (UK)
FMF Foreign Military Financing (US funding)
GoSL Government of Sri Lanka
GTZ Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (German
Development Cooperation)
Hartal Civil disobedience expressed in mass protests involving strike
actions such as total shut down of workplaces, offices, shops and
court of laws
IFI International Financial Investment
IGO Intergovernmental Organization
IMF International Monetary Fund
INGO International Non-governmental Organization
IPKF Indian Peace-keeping Force (sent to enforce the 1987 Indo-Sri
Lanka Accord)
ISGA Interim Self-Governing Authority
JHU Jathika Hela Urumaya (Buddhist monk-based political party)
JNP Janatha Nidahas Peramuna (People’s Freedom Front)
JVP Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (People’s Liberation Front)
LTTE Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
MCA Millennium Challenge Account (major US initiative in development
assistance of George W. Bush administration)
MCC Millennium Challenge Corporation
MEP Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (People’s United Front, coalition
formed for the 1956 General Elections comprising SLFP, LSSP, and
a group of independents)
MIRJE Movement for Inter-Racial Justice and Equality (civil society
organization)
Acronyms ix
MoU Memorandum of Understanding
MULF Muslim United Liberation Front
NEMPA North East Muslim Peace Assembly
NEPC North East Provincial Council
NERF Northeast Reconstruction Fund
NGO Non-governmental Organization
NMAT National Movement Against Terrorism (civil society organization)
NUA National Unity Alliance (Muslim political party formed in 2000)
ODA Official Development Assistance
PA People’s Alliance (SLFP-led coalition of parties)
PELT People’s Front of Liberation Tigers (political wing of the LTTE)
PNM Patriotic National Movement (political party)
PR Proportional representation
PSM Peace Secretariat for Muslims
P-TOMS Post-Tsunami Operationals Management Structure (mechanism
through which the LTTE and GoSL were to coordinate
disbursement of international aid)
SCA Strategic Conflict Analysis (2005)
SIHRN Sub-Committee on Immediate Humanitarian and Rehabilitation
Needs in the North and East
SLA Sri Lanka Army
SLFP Sri Lanka Freedom Party
SLMC Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (political party established in 1981)
SLMM Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission
SU Sihala Urumaya (Sinhala nationalist political party)
TEEDOR Tamil Eelam Economic Development Organization
TMVP Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (paramilitary group and political
party that emerged from the break-away eastern wing of the LTTE
under the leadership of Karuna)
TNA Tamil National Alliance (alliance of Tamil parties, aligned with
LTTE until 2009)
TRO Tamils Rehabilitation Organization
TULF Tamil United Liberation Front
UNP United National Front (centre-right political party)
UPFA United People’s Freedom Alliance (Alliance of JHU, JVP, NUA and
SLFP formed in 2005)
USAID United States Agency for International Development
UTHR(J) University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna)
Vanni Territory in the Northern Province, that was formerly under the
control of the LTTE