Black July: Four Decades On, Justice Still Denied
Black July 1983 remains one of the darkest chapters in Sri Lanka’s post‐independence history. Over the course of just seven days – from 24th to 30th July 1983 – a state-enabled pogrom unleashed anti-Tamil violence across the country. Estimates vary, but it is believed around 3,000 Tamil civilians were killed and thousands more injured, raped and forcibly displaced.
Yet more than four decades later, the state has not held a single perpetrator criminally accountable. The absence of justice speaks to a deeper culture of impunity – one that continues to haunt survivors and their descendants.
Senthooran’s Family in Matale
Senthooran was a Tamil youth living in Matale with his family, well‐integrated and fluent in Sinhala. After news of an LTTE ambush in Palali killing 13 army soldiers, angry mobs used electoral registers to identify Tamil homes. Senthooran’s sister was stabbed for wearing a pottu, their house attacked and his father later killed by a shell as they tried to flee. Senthooran felt pressed into LTTE ranks by his circumstances of living in poverty and needing a way out but was arrested and imprisoned, spending years in rehabilitation camps. Today he teaches Sinhala and works with the Civil Security Department but still remains ostracised there by Sinhalese colleagues for his past with the LTTE.
Mohan Panneer Selvam – Orphaned at Eight
Mohan’s family was burned alive in their Hawa Eliya home during Black July. He and his younger brother were away when the riots broke out and returned as orphans. His 10-year old sister was the sole survivor, only because their mother threw her out of the kitchen window. She was wounded and found two or three days later by police and sent to a camp for Tamils made homeless by the violence.
On 25th July 35 Tamil prisoners were attacked and killed by Sinhalese inmates and two days later Sinhalese inmates killed another 18 Tamil detainees and 3 prison deputies. The prison guards purposefully left doors open to allow the killings to happen. Among the most savage of the massacre was the torture of the founders of the Tamil Liberation Organisation (TLO). Kuttimani’s eyes were gouged out by his tormentors and Thangathurai’s tongue was cut off. In 1985 relatives of the murdered prisoners filed for compensation on the basis of failure by the state to provide adequate protection to the prisoners. Nearly a decade later, in 199, the cases were settled with the state undertaking to make ex gratia payments to the relatives without admitting liability. However, no criminal convictions have been made.
A Presidential Truth Commission was appointed in 2001 and produced a report in 2002, finding widespread atrocities – but it made no legal referrals and led to no prosecutions. In 2004, on the 21st anniversary of the violence, former President Chandrika Kumaratunga issued a formal state apology on behalf of the Sri Lankan state. Symbolic compensation was provided to selected survivors and victim families. Reports indicate that 30 families identified by the Commission received payments averaging approximately 77,000 Sri Lankan rupees per person. Later governments have not issued any further apologies and despite decades of reports, no one has been charged, let alone tried, for organising or facilitating the violence. Successive governments have established “truth commissions” without investigatory or prosecutorial powers; survivors see them as hollow gestures that perpetuate impunity.
Though President Dissanayake’s manifesto emphasised anti-corruption and social equity, there has at the time of this posting been no official statement commemorating Black July nor any apology.
Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice, together with civil society organisations worldwide are calling on the Sri Lankan government to acknowledge Black July and end the culture of impunity. True reparations should combine financial compensation with psychosocial support for survivors. Ending draconian laws, such as the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), is essential. Equally vital is embedding Black July in the national school curriculum, enabling future generations to learn and mourn. Finally, the government must allow communities to memorialise victims openly, through monuments or annual commemorations, affirming that state-enabled atrocities will never again be hidden in silence.
