Negative Peace In Sri Lanka: What Is Preventing Positive Peace?

In: http://hdl.handle.net/11655/3033

Abstract

The island of Sri Lanka has suffered from a long history of conflict. In May 2009, a 26-year civil war was ended by military defeat of the separatist group the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) by the Government of Sri Lanka. Human rights organizations have accused the GOSL of committing war crimes at the end of the war and of violating human rights violations in the post-war context. The GOSL refuted all claims and declared there is peace now that the war ended. The main question has been: Where is the peace? The aim of this thesis is to identify what was preventing Sri Lanka from transitioning from a state of negative peace to positive peace as it was defined in Johan Galtung's peace theory. The study of the historical background of Sri Lanka and the Pillars of Positive Peace developed by the Institute for Peace & Economics have aided in determining how positive peace was undermined during President Rajapaksa's postwar presidency. The thesis found that negative peace was sustained due to a lack of accountability, restrictions placed on civil society and identity politics. The thesis concluded that there were three main blockages to positive peace. ; Sri Lanka adasi uzun yillar boyunca agir savaslar gecirmistir. 2009 Mayis'inda, ayrilikci grup Tamil Eelam Ozgurluk Kaplanlari'nin (LTTE) Sri Lanka hukumeti tarafindan yenilgiye ugratilmasiyla 26 yil suren sivil savas sona ermistir. Insan haklari organizasyonlari, savas sonunda Sri Lanka hukumetini savas sucu ve savas sonrasi sartlarinda insan haklari ihlali ile suclamistir. Sri Lanka hukumeti tum bu suclamalari reddetmis ve savas sonrasi baris sartlarinin olustugunu beyan etmistir. Asil soru ise barisin nerede oldugudur. Bu tezin amaci Sri Lanka'nin, Johan Galtung'un baris teorisinde tanimlandigi sekilde negatif baristan pozitif barisa gecis surecini engelleyen etmenlerin belirlenmesidir. Sri Lanka tarihi ve Institute for Peace & Economics tarafindan belirlenen "Pillars of Positive Peace", Baskan Rajapaksa'nin savas sonrasi hukumdarligi esnasinda pozitif barisin nasil bozulduguna isik tutar. Bu tez; denetim eksikligi, sivil topluma getirilen kisitlamalar ve kimlik politikalari sonucunda negatif barisin surduruldugunu ortaya koyar.