posted January 25, 2002 12:14 PM         

Prajathanthra, the Colombo based Movement for Social Democracy said in a press statement signed by its convener Lucien Rajakarunanayaka regarding the request of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to hold its proposed peace talks with the Sri Lankan government at an Indian venue that it is now up to the Indian authorities to test the LTTE’s new found interest in humanitarian concerns by asking it to surrender its leader Velupillai Prabhakaran and his intelligence Chief Pottu Amman to India.

The statement said Velupillai Prabhakaran and Pottu Amman were wanted by the Indian authorities for the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi and the rebel group is in fact adding insult to injury to India by the very act of requesting an Indian venue for negotiations with Sri Lanka, while giving safe harbor to two of India’s most wanted criminals.

The statement also said that this aspect of the LTTE strategy should be given due consideration both by the Sri Lankan government and the Norwegian facilitators, who should both rule out India as a venue for any talks until the two fugitives from Indian justice are handed over to the Indian authorities.

“The onus in this regard lays heavier on Sri Lanka”, the statement said.

The following is the full text of the statement:

“The LTTE appears keen to drag India into its strategy of seeking to gain respectability among the international community, and remove the stigma of being identified as an International Terrorist Organization, by its repeated request that India permits preliminary talks between the LTTE and Sri Lanka to be held in a South Indian city. We see this, as a means of inveigling India into giving tacit support to the conditions the LTTE will be putting forward at any future talks, as well.

“ The LTTE gives two reasons for its request that a South Indian city be the venue for preliminary negotiations prior to the actual talks. The first is a so-called humanitarian needs - the availability of good medical facilities for its chief negotiator Anton Balasingham for a kidney ailment. The next is a logistical requirement - for easy commuting to and from the Wanni in Sri Lanka for consultations with the LTTE's leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. “Both these reasons are hollow and do not merit the least consideration. Even better treatment than is available in India, could be obtained for Anton Balasingham’ S kidney, from some of the other locations for talks that have been mentioned, such as Oslo and other European cities. As for the logistics of easy contact with the LTTE leader, there no need for any special proximity because of negotiations. The LTTE was able all these years to communicate with him quite easily and at good speed, to carry out its many terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka, and for its illegal operations here and abroad. Modern telecommunications can easily provide secure and dedicated lines of communication for this purpose. “ It is strange that the LTTE makes this request of India, appearing to be the most innocent of organizations, totally ignoring the fact that it was banned in India even before the Sri Lanka government took the long delayed step.

“ In our view, instead of letting the LTTE seem to fool both India and the rest of the world about need for an Indian venue for preliminary talks with Sri Lanka, it is now up to the Indian Government to call the shots on this matter. It is indeed moot for the Indian authorities to test the LTTE's new-found interest in humanitarian concerns (albeit only with regard to their own negotiator) as well as its logistical needs, by asking it to surrender its leader Velupillai Prabhakaran and his Intelligence Chief Pottu Amman, who are wanted by the Indian authorities for execution, for the assassination of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. It is a good enough quid pro quo. If the LTTE delivers on this demand, India would have some justification to even consider the current requests of the LTTE. “ The LTTE is in fact adding insult to injury to India by the very act of requesting an Indian venue for negotiations with Sri Lanka, while giving safe harbor to two of India's most wanted criminals. This aspect of the LTTE strategy should be given due consideration both by the Sri Lankan Government and the Norwegian facilitators, who should both rule out India as a venue for any talks until the two fugitives from Indian justice are handed over to the Indian authorities. The onus in this regard lays heavier on Sri Lanka.”

posted January 25, 2002 01:19 PM            

[ ATA ] [ 14:19 GMT, Jul. 10, 2000 ]
By: Australian Tamil Association

Summary

Killing unarmed and defenceless civilians has become a norm among the armed Sinhala forces. Safety and dignity of Tamils in their own land became no more concern to the "peace-talking" Sinhala government. Tamil civilians voiced their plights to the foreign diplomatic missions in Sri Lanka and overseas. A particularly sad irony of Tamils is that, while the Sri Lankan government has been successful in obtaining many deadly weapons, the international community's silence will be considered as a clear signal to the government to continue with its ethnic purging of Tamils. The Sri Lankan government has ratified the Geneva Conventions standards must be followed in civil wars. However, it does not follow these standards, but continuing with the carnage against the Tamils. The letters from the trapped Tamils in army controlled areas are appealing to the conscientious peacemakers to demand the Sri Lankan government to withdraw its armed forces from the Tamils' land, if the government is serious enough to resolve the conflict through the proposed devolution of power. Tamils do not want to be involved in fruitless and time wasting peace talks with the unfaithful Sri Lankan government.

Tamils have tried sincerely and democratically for many decades to live under a democratic and a unitary state. It has been a dismal failure. The war for the homeland (Tamil Nation) is not against the rights of the Sinhalese, neither to do damage to their rights nor to snatch away unjustly what rightly belongs (Sinhala Nation) to them. But it is a popular (democratic) war for security, dignity and self-determination of Tamils.

Full Article;

Distressing and Dangerous Struggle

Chadrika's "WAR & PEACE"

Occupying Sinhala armed forces in Tamil, areas obtain the power and passion to kill the Tamils in their own will. Killing unarmed and defenceless civilians has become a norm among the armed Sinhala forces. It becomes evident that the Sri Lankan armed forces do not respect international standards for the conduct of warfare, particularly those designed to protect people who are not, or are no longer taking an active part in the war. Tamils are executed inhumanely with distinct discrimination by the Sinhala armed forces.

The human loss and sufferings by the Tamil people, especially in Jaffna and Wanni, deserve an unequivocal attention of the international community and the armchair peacemakers. Letters posted to their overseas relatives by the suffering and distressed civilians in Jaffna shows that the hapless civilians have been trapped by the armed forces with no route to their > escape. The horrific, but life threatening experiences illustrated in the letters show that the Sri Lankan army does not respect the lives of the civilians because they are Tamils. The letters substantiate the fact that the Sri Lankan army is using a strategy of "To Kill Tigers, Kill All Tamils, including women, children and elderly". Unarmed civilians are being deliberately killed as revenge for the recent debacles by the Sri Lankan armed forces. The letters reveal that innocent people are killed at point blank range while taking refuges inside bomb-shelters, bunkers and public places like Churches and Temples.

The government forces are using all possible war crime tactics to kill Tamils, regardless of their age, gender and plea for their lives. Safety and dignity of Tamil people in their own land became no more concern to the "peace-talking" Sinhala government and its armed forces. Since the escalation of the conflict from this April, hundreds of thousands of people have been randomly displaced and scattered. The displaced people are in helpless situation and many lost the whereabouts of their family members. Several older people were left behind and they are dying of the carpet bombing and shelling. The fates of numerous fragile, old and sick people were not known yet.

Chandrika's tactics to kill Tamils

Nearly 75% of the internally displaced civilians are women and children. The sole idea of purposive killing of the civilians is to make the civilian population a controllable and powerless group in the army occupied areas. Not to mention, the government, indeed, is also using rival groups of the Tamil Tigers to attack the supporters and sympathizers of the freedom fight. The international community and other groups that are supporting the devolution proposal as the panacea for all evil "crimes against the humanity" carried out by the Sinhala army against the hapless civilians need to speak out for these voiceless people.

Shortsighted Diplomatic Sympathy

With every offensive action taken against the Tamils by the previous and the current Sinhala Sri Lankan governments, Tamil civilians voiced their plights to the foreign diplomatic missions in Sri Lanka and overseas. Not a single country has come forward to openly raise the plights of the Tamil civilians directly with the Sri Lankan government.

LTTE :Fighting for the TAMIL rights

A particularly sad irony of Tamils is that, while the Sri Lankan government has been successful in obtaining many deadly weapons, the international community's silence will be considered as a clear signal to the Sri Lankan government to continue with its ethnic cleansing of Tamils. A greater failure on the part of the peace-loving diplomats and the international community is that they have allowed themselves at political level to be manipulated and exploited by the Sri Lankan government.
It is miracle that Tamils are surviving the 18 years of war and economic embargo by the occupying armed forces anymore. Sooner of later, there will be a civilian revolt against the Sri Lankan armed forces. There will be a day that the civilians become liberated. It is only a matter of time and time will tell the tale. People are frustrated with the "war for peace" strategy of the Chandrika government.

Post Office Jaffna

People are sick and tired of unaccomplished promises by the Sinhala government. They want a solution soon. They do not want any solution other than a place free of armed occupation of the Sinhala government. Years of continuous sufferings, threats, intimidations and deaths by those living under the occupied areas have pushed them to the corner, to seek protection in their right of self-determination and the right for a secured homeland.
Tamils living overseas are afraid that genuine sufferings by the majority of the Tamils are being branded as lies, exaggeration, propaganda and terrorists tactics. The demand for the self-determination is not based on some sentimental memories of a Tamil kingdom and homeland, but more on the collective experience of the last 50 years of sufferings, including 18 years of civil war, including the living without the basic human needs and necessities. Tamils have tried sincerely and democratically for many decades to live under a unitary state. It has been a dismal failure. The demand for the homeland (Tamil Nation) is not against the rights of the Sinhalese, neither to do damage to their rights nor to snatch away unjustly what rightly belongs to them (Sinhala Nation).

Every Tamil who fled from the war torn Sri Lanka, and is living overseas had experience of the civil war in one way or another for being a Tamil in Sri Lanka. This is a fact. Every Tamil has a story to tell the members of the international community, career diplomats and the peace-lovers and peacemakers. Any claim of atrocities can only be verified by a fact-finding mission and free news media. Unfortunately, the Sri Lankan government is playing with the lives of the Tamils behind the iron curtains - the media censorship. The Sri Lankan government is playing with the lives of the people in isolation so that there will be no opportunity to tell the stories of the voiceless civilian Tamil people.

Chandrika's Peace to THAMIZHs

This is a crime against humanity without witness. Had the international community expressed its honest opinion and reactions openly 18 years ago Sri Lanka would have become a model for peaceful multiracial country today? But it is too late to save the unitary Sri Lanka. However, there is an urgent need to protect the Tamil civilians from the potentially withdrawing armed forces. The withdrawal mood of the armed forces is forcing them to make "crime against the humanity". The international community has an obligation to speak out while it is entertaining the Sri Lankan government with its futile exercise of the proposal for devolution of power.
Violations of International War Conventions

Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 as well as in the Second Additional Protocol of 1977 to the 1949 Geneva Conventions have established standards that must be followed by governments involved in (civil) war. Sri Lanka has ratified these Geneva Conventions. However, it does not follow these standards, but continue with the carnage against the Tamils. The government is using Tamil civilians as the object of attack and human shields in its war against the LTTE. Killings of civilians and destruction of infrastructures and cultural heritage have become the norm in the north of Sri Lanka.

It is worthy to mention that the current Sri Lankan government has recently admitted that education, employment, and basic well being to Tamils in Sri Lanka during the past 40 years have been denied. It has also said that decades of discrimination, government sponsored racial riots, extra-judicial execution, persecution, economic blockade and other basic human rights violations have driven the Tamils to demand an autonomous Tamil State where they can live in equality, peace and safety. However, it became very clear that words were there but no actions at all. The Sri Lankan government certainly has demonstrated that it does not want to resolve the ethnic issue through a negotiated peaceful process.

Destruction

Sri Lankan government forces are engaged in a pattern of indiscriminate aerial and artillery bombardment of areas heavily populated by Tamil civilians. These are the deliberate attacks on civilians' residential areas. Of course, these are not accidental incidents or coincident. The bombardment of civilians and their properties as a means of conducting hostilities is prohibited by customary law as codified in Article 13(2) of Protocol II, which prohibits attacks on civilians.

On several occasions, Sri Lankan government forces have attacked medical facilities and hospitals. The forces have also attacked places of worship in which civilians have taken refuge. Since 1983 the Sri Lankan government has claimed thousands of innocent Tamil lives and made several thousands of Tamil refugees, not only overseas but also within Tamils' homeland. The Sri Lankan armed forces have also destroyed schools, universities, libraries, and buildings of historical significance, industries and major economic activities in Tamil areas.

Extrajudicial Killings, Arbitrary Arrests and Torture

Civilians are extrajudicially executed in north-eastern Sri Lanka. The letters also said that killings have occurred during cordon-and-search operations when individual members of the security forces resorted to killing as an alternative to arrest. The Sri Lankan government had killed at least a son, a father, a brother, a sister, a mother, an aunt or an uncle in every Tamil family in the north. Every family had lost their home or farm, fishing boat or business due to the government atrocities against the Tamils in the north. Arbitrary arrests, torture, including rape, disappearances and extrajudicial executions being reported from the northeast of the country and the capital (Colombo) in particular.

Certain provisions in the Emergency Regulations and Prevention of Terrorism Act in Sri Lanka continue to provide a ready context for deaths in custody, disappearance and extrajudicial executions. Innocent Tamil civilians have been arrested by the army, navy, air force, Special Task Force (a police commando unit) and the police.

Double Edge "War for Peace"

The current Sinhala government, which came to power in August 1994, initiated a dialogue with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) long after the declaration of cessation of hostilities by LTTE. Representatives of the government and the LTTE met in mid October 1994 and early January 1995 in Jaffna, the main town in the northern part of Sri Lanka. On 8 January 1995, a cessation of hostility agreement between the two parties came into force. A further two meetings between delegates of both parties took place in mid-January and mid-March. On 18 April, however, the LTTE called an end to truce because of the unwillingness of the government to implement the negotiated conditions such as establishing essential utilities as a precondition for the continuation of the peace talk.

The Sri Lankan government stated that it was necessary to resort to military offensive in order to save the lives of those who were being threatened by LTTE. However, there has been no such request by the Tamils in the north, because it is there that the military offensive is taking place. On the contrary, the evidences are mounting about the government's inhuman shelling and bombing of civilians. The government forces are rounding up civilians from refugee camps and forcing them to march ahead of government troops into LTTE gunfire or through mine fields. Civilians who refuse to march ahead are threatened with execution.

Merciless Embargo on Essential Food and Medicine The Sri Lankan government is using the "starvation of Tamils" as a method of combat. It is also using "economic blockade and siege" as methods of warfare. Children in the north are starving and dying due to lack of food and malnutrition. Although the International Red Cross (IRC) has been permitted to make some deliveries to the north, the government troops at other times have deprived civilians of food and medical supplies. Sick and wounded are not provided with care due to non-availability of medicines. Several people, including children and pregnant mothers are dying everyday without the indispensable food and medicine. Tamil civilians are experiencing undue hardship owing to a lack of essential supplies for their survival, such as food, medicines and relief work for the displaced civilians.

The number of refugees in northern Sri Lanka has doubled to over 16,000 in the past few weeks. Moreover, international aid workers estimated that the war has driven 150,000 people from their homes. Many residents of the Jaffna peninsula have sought shelter in temples, mosques and churches, but necessities such as food and medicine are short in supply. Telephone lines to the peninsula have been cut, and journalists are prohibited from travelling to the battle zone, making it difficult to assess how devastating the impact has been on the civilian population. Everyday, a large number of civilians are being killed by the Sri Lankan armed forces. In fact, the letters support that civilians are being sought by the Sri Lankan armed forces and killed in front of their family members randomly. The civilians claim that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) are helpless and they are sad of the civilian's plights.

Tamil civilians are used to undertake functions like in the "labor camps". They call for a United Nation sponsored war crime tribunal to investigate the atrocities of the government armed forces against the innocent Tamils.

People are sheltering in damaged houses. Children are having nightmares even in the daytime. Children are being pushed beyond their tolerance for survival. They do not have education, food, and clothes and are malnourished. The letters are appealing to the conscientious peacemakers to demand the Sri Lankan government to withdraw its armed forces from the Tamils' land, if the government is serious enough to resolve the conflict through the proposed devolution of power. The Tamil people are convinced that the government is conducting a brutal and meaningless war against the Tamil people. They claim that the war has helped increase the hateness towards the Sinhala community as a whole. They are questioning the wisdom of the two major Sinhala political parties in talking to hand over of power in the Tamil homeland to an interim government.

Civilians in the areas controlled by the LTTE suffer for lack of food and medicine because the Sri Lankan armed forces obstruct and deny the delivery of essential items to these areas. Several types of systematic military excess against the Tamil civilians are gradually unleashed by the Sinhala governments in the Tamil areas. From disruption of day-to-day living through travel and communication to employment and education are denied to the Tamils. Innocent Tamils have always been the target for predetermined discriminatory violations of Tamil rights by the Sinhala forces. Over the years, Tamils lost their equality, right to self-determination and human rights and have become the marginal ethnic representatives in the Sri Lankan political system. None of the Sinhala political leaders ever designed, developed and implemented a workable solution to rectify the root causes of the Tamil National question.

In Conclusion

The Sri Lankan government, the three armed forces (army, navy & air force), Volunteer Defence Forces, and Home Guards are involved in "ethnic purging" of Tamils. Violence, death, threats, tortures to life, health, physical and mental well being of Tamils has reached the highest point in the history of Sri Lanka. The survival of the entire Tamil ethnic group in Sri Lanka is under threat. Humanitarian organizations are not allowed to undertake relief and support work in the north. International visitors and media reporters are not allowed into the north. It is a total information blackout.

War will not help the government to find a peaceful solution. War is not going to force the LTTE because they are fighting for the specific cause (self-determination of Tamils) and the government cannot win this war of self-determination. Some urgent actions, including stopping the offensive war and lifting economic embargo by the government must be undertaken, possibly with the help and intervention of other good-will countries. These concrete actions must form the pretext for the peace talks.

The Sri Lankan government should accept the blame for this pathetic situation of Tamils in Sri Lanka. The armed forces and the Sri Lankan government should comply with the common Article 3 of the Geneva Convention of 1949, which prohibits "violence to life and persons, in particular murder of all kinds" against people taking no active part in hostilities. How much more injustice and oppression can the Tamils take? The Tamil people cannot and will not give up their self-determination. Tamils are ready to settle this matter through either war or peace. Tamils do not want to be involved in fruitless and time wasting peace talks with the unfaithful Sri Lankan government. The Tamils have sacrificed enough of their lives, land, education and employment. There is a limit for everything and the Tamils have by far reached the limit.