Revisiting the Enumeration of Vital Events

7/28/2019 Revisiting the Enumeration of Vital Events

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Spot Fixing Sri Lanka Style: Revisiting the

Enumeration of Vital EventsImage courtesyThuppahi blog

GroundviewsThe Social Architects-28 May, 2013In November 2011, Sri Lankas Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, said that discovering how many civiliansdied or went missing during the last few months of the conflict would be a first step towards reconciliation.[1]The governmentsEnumeration of Vital Events (EVE) attempted to answer that question by collecting informationabout people who have died, disappeared and emigrated from Sri Lanka since 1982. The survey was overseen by theMinistry of Defence, but was conducted by the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS).[2]More recently, Sri Lankas Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN), Ambassador Ravinatha

Aryasinha, said[3]the following at the UNs Human Rights Council (HRC):Addressing concerns relating to accountability, the only authoritative and credible source of informationrelating to the demographics and those killed and untraceable in the Northern Province during the period 2005 2009, the Enumeration of Vital Events 2011 in the Northern Province (EVE 2011) by the Department of Censusand Statistics (DCS) conducted during the months of June and July 2011, has estimated that the total numberdead from 1 January to 31 May 2009 is 8998, including deaths caused due to old age/sickness, natural deaths,deaths due to accidents/homicides/suicides and other causes. Out of this, 7896 are probable conflict relateddeaths, which include LTTE cadres killed in action, LTTE cadres and civilians who escaped from the conflict zoneand had travelled to other parts of Sri Lanka/overseas, civilians likely to have been killed in cross fire andcivilians killed by the LTTE whilst escaping from LTTE control, false reporting, found to be alive, deaths reportedbut not during the period of Humanitarian Operation and those who have gone overseas/moved to other parts of

Sri Lanka/ untraceable etc. It would be recalled that from Jan May 2009 around 2,400 Sri Lankan securityforces personnel were killed and around 11,000 wounded, which indicates the intensity of the LTTE resistance atthe time. The GoSL has embarked on a fresh survey on deaths, injuries, untraced and property damages as

recommended by the LLRC NPoA and this survey is expected to provide vital information to respond to manyquestions raised related to deaths, injuries and those untraced during the conflict.

Ambassador Aryasinhas recent remarks, the present administrations hostile stance towards accountability or aproper recounting of the wars final phases and the total collapse of the rule of law have compelled TSA to revisit SriLankasEnumeration of Vital Events.The MethodologyIn 2011 the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) held population enumeration activities specifically fortheEnumeration of Vital Events (EVE) in the countrys Northern Province (Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mannar, Mullaitivuand Vavuniya). A form designed by the DCS was used for the survey. The form included the general censusinformation, like the names and information (including passport numbers) of people living in their housepermanently or temporarily. There are sections for family members who live in other districts or for those who have
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emigrated. Under that section, the form asks for the personal information of the people who have left, where theyhave gone (domestically and/or internationally), and why they went. There is a section, special to the NorthernProvince, about deaths and disappearances. Respondents are only supposed to discuss their family members, andnot domestic aids/laborers or boarders (tenants) who may have died or disappeared while living with them. Theform asks for the following information for the deceased/ disappeared:

ID card number ; Relationship to respondent; Sex; Whether they died or disappeared; Age when they died ordisappeared; Date that they died or disappeared; Whether a death certificate was obtained for the person

For deaths, there is a section for the cause of death. The options are natural causes, the 2004 tsunami, other natural

disaster, an accident, or other.[4]Importantly, there is no option for death due to war.Fordisappearances, there is a field to state where the person disappeared.The Department of Education (DoE) was willing to provide teachers with leave to attend one-day trainings and alsoto collect data. However, the DoE was only willing to give teachers short leave or duty leave to conduct the survey.This suggests that the lack of time given to teachers made it difficult for all of them to conduct the surveycompletely. According to the official report, field data collection required for the project covering the entireNorthern Province was planned and executed within the period oftwo weeks from 3rd July to 17th July,2011.[5]However, the survey was extended an additional ten days and ended on July 27, 2011. The survey wasextended because some teachers were unable to finish their work during the allotted time period.[6]For its ownsurvey, why could the DCS not get its numbers right?

Additionally, it appears that not all teachers were compensated for their work in spite of promises that had beenmade by DS officials working in the five districts. Teachers were promised that they would be paid 3,000 Sri Lankanrupees for completing the first hundred forms. Teachers who completed more than one hundred forms were paidextra. While it remains unclear how many teachers have been paid, some definitely have. Those who have been paid

were asked to come to the closest DCS department where they were paid in cash. Teachers were paid at variestimes, ranging from September to December, 2011. This occurred in all five districts in the Northern Province.

Anecdotally, one teacher from the Vanni (who completed more than one hundred forms) was paid 5,215 Sri Lankanrupees.[7]Teachers were paid thirty rupees for the first hundred forms they completed. For any additional formscompleted, they were paid thirty-five rupees per form.Data CollectionGovernment schoolteachers collected the data by going door-to-door and using database forms. As noted, prior tocollecting data, schoolteachers participated in a training program. In addition, on June 17, 2011 a one-day MasterTraining seminar was held at the Jaffna District Secretariat for Tamil staff of the Department of Census andStatistics (DCS) based in Jaffna, Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi, Mannar and Vavuniya. Since Sri Lanka had not conductedan island-wide census since 1982, this was a capacity-building exercise for DCS staff.

Army officials visited the DCS in Jaffna during that one-day training. Staff from the DCS were brought to work onthe project from other parts of the country (outside the Northern Province) on June 22 and 23, 2011.

Significantly, most teachers had no prior experience with data collection or survey work.Once teachers collected the data, those database forms were collected by officials working in the DCSs Colombooffice. In order to collect the data and bring it back to Colombo, the DCS sent five separate teams of Colombo officestaff to the Northern Provinces five districts. The size of these teams varied according to the number of DS divisionslocated within each of the five districts, with one additional person being designated as the team leader for eachgroup. For example, the team that travelled to Kilinochchi (a district with 4 DS divisions) was comprised of fivepeople working in the DCSs Colombo office. The remaining teams are numbered as follows: Mullaitivu (6 people);

Vavuniya (5 people); Mannar (5 people); Jaffna (15 people).DCS teams in Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi, Mannar and Vavuniya all stayed in army camps during that time. Whilethose four teams had originally planned to spend three weeks in those districts, DCS staff spent an entire month atthose army camps. More specifically, in Vavuniya the DCS staff who came from Colombo stayed at the Kudiyiruppu

Army Camp while the survey was conducted. In Jaffna, DCS staff who came from Colombo stayed at a lodge; thiswas coordinated by the Ministry of Defence.[8] DCS staff stayed in Jaffna for two weeks. To be clear, all fiveColombo-based DCS teams were in the Northern Province during the entire time that the survey was conducted for

their respective districts.Evaluating, collating, analyzing and finalizing the data were done exclusively by people working inthe DCSs Colombo office. No district level government officials were involved in this process.[9] Importantly, no real information about this survey was kept in any of the DCSs district officesin the Northern Province. The only information remaining in those district offices was a note aboutthe number of forms that were used in each district to conduct the survey.AnalysisThere are numerous reasons to be concerned about this survey. The timing of the survey and the militarys heavyinvolvement suggests that this was (and remains) an obvious effort to deflect international pressure at the HRCand other international fora. When and why did the DCS begin to work so closely with the Defence Ministry?The survey may also have been an attempt to discredit the UNs Panel of Experts report. Indeed, the government
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furtively released the EVE in February 2012, but did not hesitate mention it on the opening day of the HRCs19th session.Usually a data collector in the field will write a summary of information that they collected at the end of the surveyperiod. But, this wasnt done for the EVE thereby creating an opportunity for the governments Colomborepresentatives to manipulate data as they see fit.The conspicuous omission of war as an option for the cause of death is perhaps another sign that the government ismerely using the EVE as a tool to underreport the number of deaths that took place during the war. For the surveyform which was written in Tamil, in the Reason for Death Category (Column 11, Section 4) the direct translation

cites instantaneous accident as an option. However, in the English version of the survey, that same part iscategorized as Accident/Homicide/Suicide.[10]This awkwardly worded portion of the survey form in Tamil isconfusing and unclear. Evidently, the GoSL has major problems when it comes to translating official documentsinto Tamil. The ambiguous phrasing provides ample opportunity for respondents to omit deaths which occurred asa result of the war.Furthermore, the form itself invites manipulation. In the sections related to people residing in thehome and people who are living in other districts or abroad, the respondent can fill in informationfor their extended family no matter how far away they are living. However, for deaths anddisappearances, the form says that the respondent can only report on deaths/disappearances fromtheir primary family. This invariably leads to the underreporting of deaths compared to people

who have left the region and are remaining there.Doing a survey in this manner would unvaryingly lead survey information being both inaccurate and massivelyunderreported. Was a thirty-year war not deserving of its own category?The people who are in the districts now are not necessarily the same people who have been there since 1982. Whole

families were killed, displaced to other districts in Sri Lanka, or emigrated from the country entirely. When it comesto the death toll, none of these families will be counted in the survey. This inevitably results in thousands of deathsand disappearances not being reported.It is also highly unlikely that all respondents gave completely honest answers to the data collectors. In the North,there is a justifiable fear of the military and, by extension, the government. Many people are afraid to admit that afamily member died as a member of the LTTE. Some might have lied about the circumstances of the death(s), oreven that family members died at all. Moreover, many community members in the Northern Province might preferto say that their loved ones have disappeared, instead of acknowledging that they have passed away. Many womendo not want to accept the fact that their husbands are gone forever if they are not completely sure. Some are fearfulthat, by making a death official, they are killing their husbands.Community members are especially afraid to share information about family members that have emigrated. Theyare afraid that the government will assume that the emigrating family member is LTTE and that they may be also.They believe that if they admit that a family member left they will be targets of harassment, extortion, and/orinvestigation by the military. These fears are well-founded as the heavy monitoring of ex-LTTE cadres continues inthe countrys North and East.[11] The fact that the government collected the passport numbers of people in thesurvey points to an effort to identify those who would potentially travel abroad and prevent them from doing so. Itmay also be an attempt to identify possible LTTE supporters.ConclusionThe processes surrounding the Sri Lankan governments EVE are deeply flawed. The EVEs survey and subsequentstatistical analyses lack rigor and are shrouded in opacity. The EVE has resulted in the production of highlyquestionable information. More than four years after the conclusion of war, the present administration maintainsthat far fewer deaths (less than 8,000) occurred during wars final phases than most people think. As TSA notedmore than a year ago, the governments dubious claim lacks merit and should not be taken seriously.###This article has been adapted from a previous work which TSA circulated anonymously in February 2012, Behindthe Numbers: a Closer Look at Sri Lankas Enumeration of Vital Events 2011 Northern Province.
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[1] Sri Lanka Takes Census of Civilian Deaths During the Last Stages of War, ColomboPage, 24 November 2011.[2]The Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) is also referred to as the Census and Statistics Department.[3]Full Text: Sri Lankas Statement Today At The 23rd Session Of The Human Rights Council, ColomboTelegraph, 27 May 2013 .[4]It is unclear how the DCS disaggregated the data on deaths, which can be found on page 47 of the Enumerationof Vital Events Northern Province Sri Lanka .[5] Please refer to the Preface of the Enumeration of Vital Events 2011 Northern Province Sri Lanka.[6]This information was provided by a teacher (who participated in the survey) in Kilinochchi.[7] This amount includes a 500 rupee payment for successfully completing the one-day training for data collection.

[8] According to officials working at the Department of Census and Statistics.[9]The details about this process were reported by officials from the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS)from all five District Secretariats in the Northern Province.[10]Please refer Annex I of this briefing paper and to the Enumeration of Vital Events, Appendix II: EnumerationSchedules for more information.[11]This information was reported by human rights activists living in Sri Lanka.
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Revisiting the Enumeration of Vital Events