EU terror ban on LTTE challenged
[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 February 2014, 17:51 GMT]The European Union's ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) hangs in the balance today after a hearing at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg exposed serious flaws in the original evidence used to proscribe the movement in 2006. Judges expressed concern at the European Council's use of an Indian anti-terror law as a suitable precedent for banning the LTTE, saying there was no evidence that the Council checked if terror suspects had access to a fair trial in India. The court was also dismayed by the Council's use of Wikipedia as a credible source for keeping a terrorism ban on the LTTE. Lawyers for the LTTE left the court in a positive mood, expecting a judgement within the next six months.
Representatives from the European Council, European Commission, Netherlands and Britain all defended the inclusion of the LTTE on the EU's terrorism list.
A Sri Lankan government delegation also observed the proceedings, and the court room was packed with over a hundred diaspora Tamils.
Victor Koppe, the Amsterdam-based attorney for the applicant, told the court that, “There can be hardly any doubt that the LTTE was fighting a legitimate struggle against an extremely oppressive regime which some have even labelled as genocidal.”
Koppe compared Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaka with Syrian leader Bashar Al-Assad, before reminding the court about Britain's chequered stance on terrorism: “the same government that stands before you today was once quite keen on labelling Mandela a terrorist and not a legitimate fighter against an oppressive regime.” The UK delegation said it noted Koppe's comments on British foreign policy but said it was outside the scope of this hearing for the UK to respond.
Koppe concluded that “the refusal to delist the LTTE prevents the Tamil diaspora from organising itself into an effective partner in the defence of Tamil rights through political means.”
Koppe's argument hinged on four key points. Firstly, that the LTTE were combatants in an armed conflict and as such should have been governed by international humanitarian law not anti-terrorism mechanisms. Next, Koppe's team took issue with the authenticity of sources used by the Council to justify its ban on the LTTE, which included Wikipedia pages. Thirdly, the Council's reliance on India and Britain's decision to ban the LTTE was questioned. Lastly, Koppe argued that the factual situation had changed following the military defeat of the LTTE in 2009 and the absence of any attacks for almost five years.
The Dutch government delegation said parties to an armed conflict were still governed by other laws, citing this in defence of the conviction of five Tamils in the Hague in 2011 for LTTE fundraising, and adding that senior judges in Germany and France had reached similar conclusions.
The European Commission said that the LTTE did not pose a terrorism risk in the future provided the asset freeze remained in place. Otherwise, there was a likelihood that the LTTE would resume fighting when they recovered the capability.
The UK said it was legitimate for their Home Secretary, rather than an independent judge, to have banned the LTTE in 2000. Furthermore, evidence could be withheld from Parliament when passing anti-terror legislation. The four-strong UK delegation refused to comment when TamilNet approached them after the hearing.
Judges spent two hours questioning the parties, directing the majority at the European Council. The judges said there was no evidence that the Council had checked the fundamental rights situation in India before making the contested decision in 2006 to ban the LTTE. The court doubted whether there was due process in India to challenge a ban on the LTTE there, in which case any judgement was not compatible with EU standards. European Council countered that the ban would have passed based on the UK position alone, regardless of the ban in India.
The judges were also dissatisfied that the Council's evidence for a terror ban on the LTTE included a list “contextual material based on well publicised events”, some of which were internet references and Wikipedia pages about terrorist acts allegedly committed by the LTTE.
The advocate for the European Commission mentioned in passing during his closing remarks that a colleague had nearly been killed by the LTTE.
Chronology:
26.02.14 EU terror ban on LTTE challenged
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Tamils cautioned against word trick of OHCHR
[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 February 2014, 23:11 GMT]Tamils living world over should take a careful note on who is skipping away from including the demand for an ‘international investigation’ in the draft resolution to be placed at the UN Human Rights Council this March, Tamil activists in the island told TamilNet on Tuesday. The diaspora Tamils and Tamils of Tamil Nadu should not be carried away by the ‘media discourse’ in Colombo following the latest recommendations of the UN Human Rights High Commissioner Navanetham Pillay, the activists warned. The latest phrase ‘international inquiry mechanism’ could also imply a process of questioning or fact-finding mission by UN Special Rapporteurs under the human rights regime of the UNHRC, which would only end up adding just another report to the existing piles of UN reports. Tamil lobbyists abroad should not deceive the masses by their misinterpretations of the terminology, the activists said.
An ‘international investigation’, which Tamils demand is a mechanism that comes under an existing international court or a UN special tribunal constituted to the specific purpose of investigating the alleged crime of genocide against Eezham Tamils, an act that should be taken up by the UN Security Council.
A resolution in the UNHRC calling for international investigation would clearly place the responsibility at the hands of the UN Security Council.
The question is whether the draft resolution would have a specific and legally binding demand on ‘international investigation’.
The USA is not prepared to add the demand for international investigation in its draft resolution, informed diplomatic sources in Colombo said at the time of this writing.
At this juncture, Eezham Tamils in UK should demand the British government to prove its credibility by placing a draft resolution calling for international investigations as the British Prime Minister David Cameron has earlier gone on record stating that he would be calling for international investigations on Sri Lanka, the Tamil activists in the island said.
In 2013 February, Ms Navi Pillay came with the following paragraph at the end of her recommendations in the annual report (A/HRC/22/38):
“64. The High Commissioner noted the views expressed by many stakeholders in Sri Lanka, including prominent community leaders, that the attention paid by the Human Rights Council to issues of accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka had helped to create space for debate, and catalyzed positive steps forward, however limited at this stage. The High Commissioner encourages the Council to continue its engagement and build on this momentum. In this regard, she reaffirms her long-standing call for an independent and credible international investigation into alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, which could also monitor any domestic accountability process.”
In 2014 February, Navi Pillay’s report has come with the following paragraph in the beginning of her recommendations in the latest annual report (A/HRC/25/23):
“74. The High Commissioner recommends that the Human Rights Council establish an international inquiry mechanism to further investigate the alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law and monitor any domestic accountability processes. OHCHR stands ready to assist in such a process.”
External Links:
| Differencebetween.net: | Difference between Inquiry and Investigation |
India and world needs prod to recognize, act on Tamil genocide
[TamilNet, Monday, 24 February 2014, 15:36 GMT]Finding fault with the USA and EU for spoiling negotiated solution by banning the LTTE, the former head of SLMM says that North America and Western Europe lack interest in what is happening in the island as it is not in their backyard, and he points to India to now act on its regional matter. He also implied that effective public and media pressure is a prerequisite for any action in the island in the lines of Bosnia. Tamils in the island, in the diaspora, and especially in Tamil Nadu, will be miserable failures if they show any timidity, or find excuse in diplomacy in not telling the world in no uncertain terms the genocide faced by Eezham Tamils, said Tamil activists for alternative politics in the island.
Further comments from the activists:
Even the former head of SLMM, Major General Ulf Henricsson, who had ground experience in the island for a year, is influenced by the economy paradigm to give only secondary importance to the extraordinary genocidal intent in the psyche of the Sinhala State.
He looks at the age-old question of gravity in the island through the West’s textbook formula: economy and power.
Agreeing that Bosnia, which was recognized for genocide and the question of Eezham Tamils “are more similar than different,” Henricsson identify the mechanics as money, property and power.
“[…] The mechanics behind the war was the same – it was about money, property and power. All conflicts, you see Syria, whatever. It is not about ethnicity and religion. You use it as fuel for the conflict. If you have a decent social and economic justice, then you will not have conflict,” he observed.
Again, comparing the situation with Ukraine, he said:
“People want to stay in power. They want to protect their property and money. They are not interested in letting the other. The same on Sri Lanka; You have a political elite. They have interests. And those with money and property control the media and they control the message.” Henricsson said.
Chronic genocidal intent comes from very different formulations, which were a reality in Europe in the past, but still a reality for us in the island, where the issues are not sorted out.
The crime of genocide is different from crime in any other war.
If the world has not understood the question in the island in its proper perspective, the bulk of the blame goes to the naivety of Tamils and their ‘articulators’, who historically play in the hands of others.
As a strategy to pre-empt any Tamil uprising demanding practical remedy on halting genocide, a campaign has been orchestrated that the USA will come out with a resolution on international investigation on the war crimes and the ‘diplomacy’ is not to spoil it by any other demand.
But informed circles say that there is going to be no such move from the USA.
The nominated and hijacked articulators, who were in the outside deceiving Tamils on behalf of their masters by such a campaign, are in reality exasperating in Geneva in seeing that ‘any’ resolution tabled by the USA should get passed, informed circles said.
The current trend in Geneva is everyone pointing to India, the informed circles further said.
But then, a web blog of an influential, middle-level political party in Tamil Nadu came out with a campaign last week, detracting Tamils from demanding investigation on the genocide and urging them to support the US line.
In taking a line in the struggle of Eezham Tamils, People in Tamil Nadu and organisations beyond party politics have to carefully scrutinize the forces that are at work and their links, cautioned Tamil activists for alternative politics in the island.
Related Articles:
24.02.14 EU made big mistake in banning LTTE: Henricsson, former head..
20.02.14 Beware of war crimes investigation leading to ‘reconciliatio..
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It was a big mistake for the EU to ban the LTTE. There was pressure from the USA and the Sri Lankan government, said Major General Ulf Henricsson, who was heading the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in 2006. “I would say that was a big mistake, because it stopped the possibility to get a peaceful solution and negotiation,” Henricsson told TamilNet in an interview in Sweden on Saturday. Acting on solutions now, compared to Bosnia, he cited lack of interest in the West. He was stressing on the importance of India in acting on the question, but said that India is not interested in getting engaged. China and India and other countries are not interested in having the international community on that territory, he added.
On a question about the absence of political solution in the reports and resolutions of the last five years, whether this gives space and time for Colombo to complete the genocide, and whether there is a continued injustice committed, Henricsson said, “I would say you are right.”
“Sri Lanka does not want to have a settlement.”
“I would say one of my favourites on Sri Lanka is Gothabya Rajapaksa. As long as he is there as the Minister of Defence, you will not have a solution. This man does not want any peaceful settlement,” he added.
* * *
When asked to compare Bosnia and Sri Lanka where he worked, he said that these conflicts are more similar than different.
The IC took two years to respond and engage in Bosnia.
“But it was on our own backyard.”
“I would say that it turned when the opinion in the single countries turned against and told the politicians we have to do something. That was a difference you had the pressure from the public opinion and the media, which made the governments in UN to react. You didn't have that pressure on Sri Lanka.”
Henricsson in his interview was hinting that the responsibility to act lies with India and with the pressure of public opinion and media in India.
Full transcript of the interview follows:
TamilNet: During the final stages of the Vanni war, Tamils across the world took to streets in large numbers and demanded the international community to stop the war. But, the International Community didn’t do it. The international community is now accused for this failure by all the reports. Now, the Tamils demand to stop the continued-genocide. But, the IC is not prepared to stop even that. It is not even recognizing the genocide. Is it a continued failure?
Ulf Henricsson: Yes. I can agree on that. But, Sri Lanka is not the only place where we see this. We have – for example today – the conflict in Syria.
The international community can't or don't want to engage in all the conflicts. You don't have the resources, and you don't want to pay for it. You have the opinion in a lot of countries against such engagement.
Sorry to say, but Sri Lanka is far away from Western Europe and North America.
Without pressure from the opinion and media, nothing happens. That is a problem. And that [problem] happens also for Sri Lanka, as also in many other places.
Most countries are not engaged in this process. For a Swede it is very far way. It is easy to ignore it. If we have had one conflict, then the engagement would have been better.
You have of course also a big player north of you: India. What India says is very important for this region. I don't think India is very interested in being engaged, sorry to say. But, I think there is definitely from a moral point of view yes, but it is a matter of engagement.
TamilNet: You have experience in monitoring peace both in Bosnia and in the island of Sri Lanka. The Bosnian situation was very well recognized as genocide and the IC delivered an appropriate political solution. But, there is an unwritten censorship imposed by the world Establishments in considering the case of Eelam Tamils as a question of genocide. Do you find any duplicity of the International Community on this?
Henricsson: Well, I would say that in former Yugoslavia it took the international community two years to react on and to engage. We were as bad then in Yugoslavia too without the proper actions.
There was a big difference for Europeans because it was close to us. It was on our own backyard.
I would say that it turned when the opinion in the single countries turned against and told the politicians we have to do something. That was a difference you had the pressure from the public opinion and the media, which made the governments in UN to react. You didn't have that pressure on Sri Lanka.
I would say that these conflicts for me are more similar than different.
When I went to Sri Lanka a French colleague told me don't think you are going to Bosnia now. But the biggest difference in the mission was the weather! But the mechanics behind the war was the same – it was about money, property and power. All conflicts, you see Syria, whatever. It is not about ethnicity and religion. You use it as fuel for the conflict. If you have a decent social and economic justice, then you will not have conflict.
TamilNet: You have mentioned that there is a lack of pressure from the [global] media in the case of Sri Lanka. What causes this?
Henricsson: First you have of course difficulty for the media to work on Sri Lanka. You have restrictions from the government and a reclusive country. You are not welcome. That's one reason.
For the big media in the western part of the world North America and Europe, it is not interesting for the people. You don't sell papers. That's a hard fact.
I don't know how to do it. You have to engage the opinion. You have to get the international community to act. The UN, for example.
But, the UN is the sum of all members and there you have a lot of countries that are not interested in being engaged on Sri Lanka.
You have for example China, India. Because you are on their backyard and if you start to react on what happens of Sri Lanka you make an example, you go into another region and react.
China and India and other countries are not interested in having the international community on that territory.
That was the reason that Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission was run by Norway because of India didn’t want UN. They already had UN in Kashmir, they didn't want UN in South in Sri Lanka. It is very complicated and there are not quick fixes.
TamilNet: After 2009, postmortem-reports have come from Norway and the UN. These reports were on the roles and failures of the many actors. But, nothing said concretely on the kind of political solution that should be delivered to the victims. Even the US resolution that is going to be tabled at Geneva is expected to call for only international investigation on the war crimes. There may be nothing on an international mechanism to stop the ongoing genocide. The five year process make many political observers to think that ‘space and time’ is given to the Sri Lankan State to complete the genocide. Do you think that there is a continued injustice, and that is deliberate?
Henricsson: I haven’t been in Sri Lanka since 2006. But, I have read and I would say you are right.
Of course, the government of Sri Lanka does not want to have a settlement.
I would say one of my favourites on Sri Lanka is Gothabya Rajapaksa. As long as he is there as the Minister of Defence, you will not have a solution. This man does not want any peaceful settlement.
TamilNet: But, is there an existing genocide and injustice?
Henricsson: I can't say that. I will say that the situation has continued with a lot of incidents where people are killed disappeared and so on. That was the case in 2006 and it still is. You will never solve this until you have a democratic government that listen to all populace. The present government is not listening and do not work for a peaceful solution.
TamilNet: As the head of the peace mission in the island you were involved in the cases of the Moothoor massacre of aid workers in 2006 and in the Maavilaa’ru incident that is portrayed as something that triggered off the war in the island. You have already given affidavits on them and they have come in print. Reflecting back, do you think that the war and its ‘end’ were pre-designed or just star-crossed as the Norwegian peace facilitator Erik Solheim and former US Assistant Secretary Richard Armitage were implying?
Henricsson: I would say that Maavilaa’ru and Moothoor case triggered the final solution, but I think it was already planned. And we sought to stop it.
We called LTTE to open up the dams and it took rather long time and I talked to the government told don't start this of course we can open the dams but nobody listened, neither the LTTE nor the government. The government wanted the conflict and LTTE made a mistake because they thought they were stronger than they were.
Both parties had the wrong attitude to the conflict. That is my view. It was obvious that the Moothoor case caused by the security forces or somebody linked to the security forces because otherwise we were there to monitor the situation. But, we were not allowed to check on this and that's the reason for me having the opinion that it was the security forces that made this massacre, definitely.
TamilNet: You have gone on record stating that the EU ban on the LTTE did not happen in the European Parliament but in the coffee shops of Brussels under extreme British-American pressure. You were reportedly consulted on the matter before the ban on the LTTE declared in the EU in 2006. What were your submissions at that time?
Henricsson: We, the international community on Sri Lanka, the SLMM and the different embassies and the UN, advised the EU not to ban the Tamil Tigers.
We said you should put pressure on them to come to negotiating table, but it is too early to ban the LTTE. Everybody who worked on Sri Lanka and we had the word from diplomats who worked on Sri Lanka: OK we will wait.
But then, everything happened very fast. And of course a lot of pressure from Sri Lankan government to make this, and you had American pressure and so on. Then you had the sea incident outside Mullaiththeevu where EU just listened to the Sri Lankan government version.
They never phoned us to ask what happened because we had a different picture on that. Then it was to just pounce, and the ban came. Then you gave the government more or less a wild card to act, because the LTTE was terrorist then.
That was a part of the big war against terrorism. It was more a world-wide wish from the big powers. The LTTE also came in it. But, for me, it was a mistake.
I said if you should list the LTTE, list the Sri Lankan government too. Because, they used the same methods. That was obvious. So, I would say that was a big mistake, because it stopped the possibility to get a peaceful solution and negotiation, which I would say that the government did not want. The LTTE acted not too smartly in this situation, they were too stubborn.
TamilNet: In the globalized world of today, decisions affecting the entire humanity are ultimately taken by a very few, but masses of people, military officers, civil servants, diplomats and media persons are forced to implement those decisions. Many of them have their conscience. For the betterment of humanity in future, what do you think the conscience-minded could do in mobilizing themselves and in creating a better world?
Henricsson: That was the ten thousand dollar question. I don't know.
You have to engage people but how? It is very difficult.
We have talked about it earlier and normal people have a lot to do in their common days, they have lot of engagement: family, children the car, house everything.
This kind of situation as on Sri Lanka or Syria, or whatever, it takes a small part of your life. You don't have the energy to engage in. It its too difficult. For a Swede it's very hard to understand the conflict in Sri Lanka or what ever. We live in a quite different world, that’s a problem.
I have used a lot of time since I started on the Balkan, as to try and get people to engage, and they are engaged. When you talk about it in a lecture they are upset. Then it fades out.
The highest priority for us is to have secure situation and food for the day. And that's the same in Sri Lanka. Most people didn't want the conflict. Most people just want to have security and food for the day.
Then, for example on Sri Lanka, we talk about democracy. But, if you starve and have bad security, you don't give a damn in democracy. Just not interested because your day is built to survive.
You have to be educated. I would say the best way of suppressing the people, is don't educate them. If you can raise the education level, you'd have a better world but there are no quick fixes. It takes decades, maybe even centuries to solve it. That's my simple view on Tamils in conflict.
TamilNet: What kind of engagement do you expect from the humanity to have a better world?
Henricsson: We need a lot of engage people that work and have the energy to work on it. We take small steps all the time but we are very anxious to make it quick. But, it will not happen quickly because you have a big recession. Those in power want to stay in power. If you look to Ukraine now, people want to stay in power. They want to protect their property and money. They are not interested in letting the other. The same on Sri Lanka. You have a political elite. They have interests. And those with money and property control the media and they control the message.
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The Tamil Youth Organizations (TYOs) of 12 countries and four Tamil Nadu youth organizations that were active participants in the student uprising of 2013 in a joint statement released on Sunday endorsed the Tamil Sovereignty Cognition declaration. In addition to the TSC declaration, which recognizes the historical, earned and remedial sovereignties of the Eezham Tamil nation, the youth organizations also passed a declaration of principles, calling on the new generation of leaders from Tamil Eelam, Tamil Nadu and the Diaspora to “challenge the international community to re-evaluate its approach to self-determination for unrecognized nations and peoples and to build solidarity with other nations living under occupation to challenge the present geopolitical order.”
The statements were passed and read out at the Tamil Sovereignty conference conducted in London on Sunday by the TYO-UK.
At the conference, TYO-UK activists outlined the history and the basis of the Eezham Tamils’ struggle for freedom, connecting historical and earned sovereignty. They also explained how Eezham Tamils as a nation are eligible for the right to remedial sovereignty, criticizing the failure of the international community’s responsibility to protect.
Speaking to TamilNet, Tiksi Bala from the TYO-UK said “We have a historical sovereignty to our land that cannot be erased. We earned sovereignty through the creation of the de facto state. Now that there is no force on the ground, remedial sovereignty is the only solution to bring peace to the 60 year struggle and bring a stop to the ongoing genocide against Tamils by the Sri Lankan state.”
The full text of the Tamil Sovereignty Conference declaration of principles follows:
BE IT RESOLVED THAT on this day the representatives of the collective Eelam Tamil youth organisations around the world and Tamil youth movements in Tamil Nadu adopted the following declaration as guiding principles in the Eelam Tamils’ national question.
The principles are as follows:
SIGNED:
Chronology:
India's Central Bord of Film Certification has refused to allow permission to screen No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka, Hindustan Times reported on Sunday. Responding to the censorship imposed by New Delhi, the director of the documentary, Callum Macrae has gone on record stating that the documentary would be freely available on line for the Indian public. Mr Macrae was earlier denied visa to enter India.
Ironically, Sri Lankan government allowed Mr Macrae to visit Colombo during the CHOGM, but New Delhi refused visa to the director of the documentary in November 2013.
The New Delhi Establishment is accused of complicity in the war which has set a genocidal paradigm for the first time in South Asia ever since the wars of the times of British colonialism.
If there is going to a genuine international investigation, New Delhi along with Washington and London will be among the main accused in the crime against the nation of Eezham Tamils, independent political observers in Tamil Nadu said.
Chronology:
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Tamil activists in UK gathered at 10 Downing Street, London, on Friday condemning Britain’s lead role in the suppression of independent Tamil political opinion, both before and after Sri Lanka’s genocidal onslaught in 2009. While the UK itself has stated that the LTTE is defunct for the past 5 years, it continues to justify the ban on the Tamil movement, still criminalising all the individuals who were associated with the armed struggle in the past, the protesters said. In the meantime, young Tamil activists who took part in the protest were of the opinion that the fight against the injustice of the past, especially the political struggle against EU ban on the LTTE, an act that enabled the Sri Lankan State to end the peace process in a genocidal onslaught, was a crucial component of the Tamil struggle.
The protest comes as the British government is set to defend its 2006 stance on the act of proscribing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at the European Court of Justice on 26 February this year.
The UK would also be arguing against the removal of the LTTE from the list of proscribed organisations as the Sri Lankan Defence Minister Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has been demanding, the activists further said.
“What the ban achieves is the castigation of Tamil political activists as terrorists,” said Tamil youth activist Sathapalan Kanesalingam adding that Britain’s continued criminalization of the Tamil movement only served to support and legitimize the genocidal Sri Lankan state.
The protest was attended by more than 250 Eezham Tamil activists.
Britain is a key international player and it is refusing to concede Sri Lanka's genocide. The British government is reducing the crime of genocide to just war crimes committed by ‘both sides’, the protesters said. An international investigation should be on genocide and it should be conducted under the legal regime of an international court, they further said.
Colombo government banned the LTTE in 1998 when it launched a big offensive titled ‘Operation Jeyasikurui’ (Operation Victory Assured). But, the Tigers defeated the SL military in the operation that lasted for 2 years, paving way for internationally facilitated talks between the Tamils and the Sri Lankan State.
In 2001, the British government added the LTTE to its list of proscribed organisations, while the Sri Lankan government was under pressure from the Tigers to lift the ban on the movement in order to participate in the Norwegian facilitated peace talks.
The West, using the peace facilitation to bring the Sri Lankan State into its fold, used its ‘carrot and stick’ approach without considering the genocidal outcome. As a result, the SL State was strengthened with the ‘diplomatic carrots’ from the West while the Tamil side was weakened by the sticks of the West.
“There are many sides to this war. Why are you limiting the sides to just two sides,” Mr Sathapalan asked.
The EU ban on the Tigers came in 2006 during the talks when Sri Lankan military Establishment was locking the LTTE into a shadow war.
Colombo banned the LTTE in January 2009 to permanently close the doors for the ceasefire demand. Meanwhie, the West represented by the Co-Chairs was trying to get the Sri Lankan State into its lock by negotiating a ‘surrender’ of the LTTE. The Tigers and the Tamil people were not prepared to accept a surrender to the Colombo government as the act would tantamount to the political capitulation of the Tamil aspiration.
Chronology:
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Colombo has seized at least 30,000 acres of residential and agricultural lands for Sinhala colonization in Mullaiththeevu district alone after 2010, according to the data presented by Northern Provincial Council (NPC) member Thurairasa Raviharan, who moved a resolution condemning the demographic changes at the NPC. The land grab in Sinhalicised Gajabapura in Oddu-chuddaan is also being expanded to the ancient village of Othiya-malai, Mr Raviharan said adding that the Colombo government was using the Mahaweli ‘Development’ Porgramme’s L Scheme to occupy the lands in Mullaiththeevu district. Othiyamalai is situated 25 km beyond the reach of Mahaweli waters, he said.
300 Sinhala families have been brought from South into Gajabapura, which was earlier known as Ceylon theatre. Each of the occupying family has received 1/2 acre residential land and 1 acre of agricultural land. Similarly, 450 Sinhalese families have been brought into Nikkawewa , 400 families into Kalyanapua and 400 in Kiripanwewea, Mr Ravikaran said.
Sinhalese from South have been brought in to the occupied Tamil villages. Not a single Tamil has received lands from Colombo under the Mahaweli scheme so far in Mullaiththeevu district, the NPC councillor said.
In Odduchuddaan, ancient Tamil villages have become Sinhalicised into Gajabapura, Nava-kalyana-pura, Apitawatunu-wewa and Nikkawewa, These areas now come under the Sinhala division of ‘Weli Oya’.
In Karai-thu'raip-pattu division, Tamil villages have been Sinhalicised into Janakapura, Kiripanwewa, Agatualwewa, Kalyanapura and Sampathnuwara.
EU made big mistake in banning LTTE: Henricsson, former head of SLMM
[TamilNet, Monday, 24 February 2014, 07:58 GMT]It was a big mistake for the EU to ban the LTTE. There was pressure from the USA and the Sri Lankan government, said Major General Ulf Henricsson, who was heading the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in 2006. “I would say that was a big mistake, because it stopped the possibility to get a peaceful solution and negotiation,” Henricsson told TamilNet in an interview in Sweden on Saturday. Acting on solutions now, compared to Bosnia, he cited lack of interest in the West. He was stressing on the importance of India in acting on the question, but said that India is not interested in getting engaged. China and India and other countries are not interested in having the international community on that territory, he added.
On a question about the absence of political solution in the reports and resolutions of the last five years, whether this gives space and time for Colombo to complete the genocide, and whether there is a continued injustice committed, Henricsson said, “I would say you are right.”
“Sri Lanka does not want to have a settlement.”
“I would say one of my favourites on Sri Lanka is Gothabya Rajapaksa. As long as he is there as the Minister of Defence, you will not have a solution. This man does not want any peaceful settlement,” he added.
* * *
When asked to compare Bosnia and Sri Lanka where he worked, he said that these conflicts are more similar than different.
The IC took two years to respond and engage in Bosnia.
“But it was on our own backyard.”
“I would say that it turned when the opinion in the single countries turned against and told the politicians we have to do something. That was a difference you had the pressure from the public opinion and the media, which made the governments in UN to react. You didn't have that pressure on Sri Lanka.”
Henricsson in his interview was hinting that the responsibility to act lies with India and with the pressure of public opinion and media in India.
Full transcript of the interview follows:
TamilNet: During the final stages of the Vanni war, Tamils across the world took to streets in large numbers and demanded the international community to stop the war. But, the International Community didn’t do it. The international community is now accused for this failure by all the reports. Now, the Tamils demand to stop the continued-genocide. But, the IC is not prepared to stop even that. It is not even recognizing the genocide. Is it a continued failure?
Ulf Henricsson: Yes. I can agree on that. But, Sri Lanka is not the only place where we see this. We have – for example today – the conflict in Syria.
The international community can't or don't want to engage in all the conflicts. You don't have the resources, and you don't want to pay for it. You have the opinion in a lot of countries against such engagement.
Sorry to say, but Sri Lanka is far away from Western Europe and North America.
Without pressure from the opinion and media, nothing happens. That is a problem. And that [problem] happens also for Sri Lanka, as also in many other places.
Most countries are not engaged in this process. For a Swede it is very far way. It is easy to ignore it. If we have had one conflict, then the engagement would have been better.
You have of course also a big player north of you: India. What India says is very important for this region. I don't think India is very interested in being engaged, sorry to say. But, I think there is definitely from a moral point of view yes, but it is a matter of engagement.
TamilNet: You have experience in monitoring peace both in Bosnia and in the island of Sri Lanka. The Bosnian situation was very well recognized as genocide and the IC delivered an appropriate political solution. But, there is an unwritten censorship imposed by the world Establishments in considering the case of Eelam Tamils as a question of genocide. Do you find any duplicity of the International Community on this?
Henricsson: Well, I would say that in former Yugoslavia it took the international community two years to react on and to engage. We were as bad then in Yugoslavia too without the proper actions.
There was a big difference for Europeans because it was close to us. It was on our own backyard.
I would say that it turned when the opinion in the single countries turned against and told the politicians we have to do something. That was a difference you had the pressure from the public opinion and the media, which made the governments in UN to react. You didn't have that pressure on Sri Lanka.
I would say that these conflicts for me are more similar than different.
When I went to Sri Lanka a French colleague told me don't think you are going to Bosnia now. But the biggest difference in the mission was the weather! But the mechanics behind the war was the same – it was about money, property and power. All conflicts, you see Syria, whatever. It is not about ethnicity and religion. You use it as fuel for the conflict. If you have a decent social and economic justice, then you will not have conflict.
TamilNet: You have mentioned that there is a lack of pressure from the [global] media in the case of Sri Lanka. What causes this?
Henricsson: First you have of course difficulty for the media to work on Sri Lanka. You have restrictions from the government and a reclusive country. You are not welcome. That's one reason.
For the big media in the western part of the world North America and Europe, it is not interesting for the people. You don't sell papers. That's a hard fact.
I don't know how to do it. You have to engage the opinion. You have to get the international community to act. The UN, for example.
But, the UN is the sum of all members and there you have a lot of countries that are not interested in being engaged on Sri Lanka.
You have for example China, India. Because you are on their backyard and if you start to react on what happens of Sri Lanka you make an example, you go into another region and react.
China and India and other countries are not interested in having the international community on that territory.
That was the reason that Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission was run by Norway because of India didn’t want UN. They already had UN in Kashmir, they didn't want UN in South in Sri Lanka. It is very complicated and there are not quick fixes.
TamilNet: After 2009, postmortem-reports have come from Norway and the UN. These reports were on the roles and failures of the many actors. But, nothing said concretely on the kind of political solution that should be delivered to the victims. Even the US resolution that is going to be tabled at Geneva is expected to call for only international investigation on the war crimes. There may be nothing on an international mechanism to stop the ongoing genocide. The five year process make many political observers to think that ‘space and time’ is given to the Sri Lankan State to complete the genocide. Do you think that there is a continued injustice, and that is deliberate?
Henricsson: I haven’t been in Sri Lanka since 2006. But, I have read and I would say you are right.
Of course, the government of Sri Lanka does not want to have a settlement.
I would say one of my favourites on Sri Lanka is Gothabya Rajapaksa. As long as he is there as the Minister of Defence, you will not have a solution. This man does not want any peaceful settlement.
TamilNet: But, is there an existing genocide and injustice?
Henricsson: I can't say that. I will say that the situation has continued with a lot of incidents where people are killed disappeared and so on. That was the case in 2006 and it still is. You will never solve this until you have a democratic government that listen to all populace. The present government is not listening and do not work for a peaceful solution.
TamilNet: As the head of the peace mission in the island you were involved in the cases of the Moothoor massacre of aid workers in 2006 and in the Maavilaa’ru incident that is portrayed as something that triggered off the war in the island. You have already given affidavits on them and they have come in print. Reflecting back, do you think that the war and its ‘end’ were pre-designed or just star-crossed as the Norwegian peace facilitator Erik Solheim and former US Assistant Secretary Richard Armitage were implying?
Henricsson: I would say that Maavilaa’ru and Moothoor case triggered the final solution, but I think it was already planned. And we sought to stop it.
We called LTTE to open up the dams and it took rather long time and I talked to the government told don't start this of course we can open the dams but nobody listened, neither the LTTE nor the government. The government wanted the conflict and LTTE made a mistake because they thought they were stronger than they were.
Both parties had the wrong attitude to the conflict. That is my view. It was obvious that the Moothoor case caused by the security forces or somebody linked to the security forces because otherwise we were there to monitor the situation. But, we were not allowed to check on this and that's the reason for me having the opinion that it was the security forces that made this massacre, definitely.
TamilNet: You have gone on record stating that the EU ban on the LTTE did not happen in the European Parliament but in the coffee shops of Brussels under extreme British-American pressure. You were reportedly consulted on the matter before the ban on the LTTE declared in the EU in 2006. What were your submissions at that time?
Henricsson: We, the international community on Sri Lanka, the SLMM and the different embassies and the UN, advised the EU not to ban the Tamil Tigers.
We said you should put pressure on them to come to negotiating table, but it is too early to ban the LTTE. Everybody who worked on Sri Lanka and we had the word from diplomats who worked on Sri Lanka: OK we will wait.
But then, everything happened very fast. And of course a lot of pressure from Sri Lankan government to make this, and you had American pressure and so on. Then you had the sea incident outside Mullaiththeevu where EU just listened to the Sri Lankan government version.
They never phoned us to ask what happened because we had a different picture on that. Then it was to just pounce, and the ban came. Then you gave the government more or less a wild card to act, because the LTTE was terrorist then.
That was a part of the big war against terrorism. It was more a world-wide wish from the big powers. The LTTE also came in it. But, for me, it was a mistake.
I said if you should list the LTTE, list the Sri Lankan government too. Because, they used the same methods. That was obvious. So, I would say that was a big mistake, because it stopped the possibility to get a peaceful solution and negotiation, which I would say that the government did not want. The LTTE acted not too smartly in this situation, they were too stubborn.
TamilNet: In the globalized world of today, decisions affecting the entire humanity are ultimately taken by a very few, but masses of people, military officers, civil servants, diplomats and media persons are forced to implement those decisions. Many of them have their conscience. For the betterment of humanity in future, what do you think the conscience-minded could do in mobilizing themselves and in creating a better world?
Henricsson: That was the ten thousand dollar question. I don't know.
You have to engage people but how? It is very difficult.
We have talked about it earlier and normal people have a lot to do in their common days, they have lot of engagement: family, children the car, house everything.
This kind of situation as on Sri Lanka or Syria, or whatever, it takes a small part of your life. You don't have the energy to engage in. It its too difficult. For a Swede it's very hard to understand the conflict in Sri Lanka or what ever. We live in a quite different world, that’s a problem.
I have used a lot of time since I started on the Balkan, as to try and get people to engage, and they are engaged. When you talk about it in a lecture they are upset. Then it fades out.
The highest priority for us is to have secure situation and food for the day. And that's the same in Sri Lanka. Most people didn't want the conflict. Most people just want to have security and food for the day.
Then, for example on Sri Lanka, we talk about democracy. But, if you starve and have bad security, you don't give a damn in democracy. Just not interested because your day is built to survive.
You have to be educated. I would say the best way of suppressing the people, is don't educate them. If you can raise the education level, you'd have a better world but there are no quick fixes. It takes decades, maybe even centuries to solve it. That's my simple view on Tamils in conflict.
TamilNet: What kind of engagement do you expect from the humanity to have a better world?
Henricsson: We need a lot of engage people that work and have the energy to work on it. We take small steps all the time but we are very anxious to make it quick. But, it will not happen quickly because you have a big recession. Those in power want to stay in power. If you look to Ukraine now, people want to stay in power. They want to protect their property and money. They are not interested in letting the other. The same on Sri Lanka. You have a political elite. They have interests. And those with money and property control the media and they control the message.
Chronology:
26.02.14 EU terror ban on LTTE challenged
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Diaspora, Tamil Nadu youth organizations endorse TSC declaration
[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 February 2014, 22:59 GMT]The Tamil Youth Organizations (TYOs) of 12 countries and four Tamil Nadu youth organizations that were active participants in the student uprising of 2013 in a joint statement released on Sunday endorsed the Tamil Sovereignty Cognition declaration. In addition to the TSC declaration, which recognizes the historical, earned and remedial sovereignties of the Eezham Tamil nation, the youth organizations also passed a declaration of principles, calling on the new generation of leaders from Tamil Eelam, Tamil Nadu and the Diaspora to “challenge the international community to re-evaluate its approach to self-determination for unrecognized nations and peoples and to build solidarity with other nations living under occupation to challenge the present geopolitical order.”
The statements were passed and read out at the Tamil Sovereignty conference conducted in London on Sunday by the TYO-UK.
At the conference, TYO-UK activists outlined the history and the basis of the Eezham Tamils’ struggle for freedom, connecting historical and earned sovereignty. They also explained how Eezham Tamils as a nation are eligible for the right to remedial sovereignty, criticizing the failure of the international community’s responsibility to protect.
Speaking to TamilNet, Tiksi Bala from the TYO-UK said “We have a historical sovereignty to our land that cannot be erased. We earned sovereignty through the creation of the de facto state. Now that there is no force on the ground, remedial sovereignty is the only solution to bring peace to the 60 year struggle and bring a stop to the ongoing genocide against Tamils by the Sri Lankan state.”
The full text of the Tamil Sovereignty Conference declaration of principles follows:
BE IT RESOLVED THAT on this day the representatives of the collective Eelam Tamil youth organisations around the world and Tamil youth movements in Tamil Nadu adopted the following declaration as guiding principles in the Eelam Tamils’ national question.
The principles are as follows:
- Awareness of Eelam Tamil identity and the promotion of the same among the mainstream International polity and society are vital for our authentic cultural life in their respective as well as for the restoration of our sovereignty in the occupied homeland of the Eelam Tamils.
- We welcome the Tamil Sovereignty Cognition as a principled approach in resolving the national question of Eelam Tamils in the island of Ilangkai and recognize the declaration as a milestone following the Vaddukkoaddai Resolution of 1976 and the Thimpu principles of 1985.
- It is due to the global injustice that the genocidal war was made possible on the Eelam Tamils. The same global injustice prevails, politically privileging the perpetrator, the Sri Lankan state. Addressing this is a step to restore the lost power of balance between the Sinhala and Eelam Tamil nation.
- The struggle of the Eelam Tamils, who are subjected in their homelands to a protracted, intended genocide carried out in various ways and kept under a system of colonization, militarization and Sinhalisation, is an international struggle, with over a million of the Eelam Tamil nation being in the diaspora, and thus, a solution from a purely local approach is not only impossible but also unproductive.
- We uncompromisingly uphold the legacy of the Tamil Eelam liberation struggle and its martyrs and shall endeavour to promote its political and cultural symbols, the Tamil Eelam national flag, national festivals, national culture, national traditions, to both local and global audiences and what we shall promote the ideals of the resistance and the freedom fighters in all spheres of Tamil life.
- We reject the occupation of Tamil Eelam by the genocidal Sri Lankan state and we reject the imposition of the ‘Sri Lankan’ identity, politically and culturally on the Eelam Tamils.
- We will not compromise on the principles of Homeland, Nation and Self-determination, rejecting any collaboration of any bodies that lends legitimacy to the unitary state of Sri Lanka.
- As a practical next step to the Tamil Sovereignty Cognition declaration, we call on a new generation of Tamil leaders from Tamil Eelam, the Diaspora and Tamil Nadu to challenge the international community to re-evaluate its approach to self-determination for unrecognized nations and peoples and to build solidarity with other nations living under occupation to challenge the present geopolitical order.
- We will resolve to raise awareness and educate Tamils and non-Tamils about the ongoing internationally abetted genocide of the Eelam Tamil nation. We will also seek to educate the international community on the legitimacy of the Eelam Tamil liberation struggle.
- An international mechanism is vital in the process to stop the ongoing genocide and is necessary that it starts to work for a political solution of the national question. This must respect the will of Eelam Tamil nation which is only possible through the implementation of the right to self-determination, via an internationally monitored referendum.
SIGNED:
- Balachandran Students Movements Tamil Nadu
- Loyala Hungerstrike Tamil Nadu
- Naam Tamilar Maanavar Paasarai Tamil Nadu
- Tamil Youth Organisation Australia
- Tamil Youth Organisation Belgium
- Tamil Youth Organisation Canada
- Tamil Youth Organisation Denmark (Thesaigal)
- Tamil Youth Organisation France
- Tamil Youth Organisation Germany
- Tamil Youth Organisation Italy (Giovani Tamil)
- Tamil Youth Organisation New Zealand
- Tamil Youth Organisation Norway
- Tamil Youth Organisation Sweden
- Tamil Youth Organisation Switzerland
- Tamil Youth Organisation United Kingdom
- Tamil youths & students federation Tamil Nadu
Chronology:
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New Delhi bans Channel 4 documentary on ‘killing fields’ of Tamils
[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 February 2014, 20:32 GMT]India's Central Bord of Film Certification has refused to allow permission to screen No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka, Hindustan Times reported on Sunday. Responding to the censorship imposed by New Delhi, the director of the documentary, Callum Macrae has gone on record stating that the documentary would be freely available on line for the Indian public. Mr Macrae was earlier denied visa to enter India.
Ironically, Sri Lankan government allowed Mr Macrae to visit Colombo during the CHOGM, but New Delhi refused visa to the director of the documentary in November 2013.
The New Delhi Establishment is accused of complicity in the war which has set a genocidal paradigm for the first time in South Asia ever since the wars of the times of British colonialism.
If there is going to a genuine international investigation, New Delhi along with Washington and London will be among the main accused in the crime against the nation of Eezham Tamils, independent political observers in Tamil Nadu said.
Chronology:
05.11.13 India refuses visa to Macrae
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Tamils in UK protest against British role in EU ban on LTTE
[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 February 2014, 23:12 GMT]Tamil activists in UK gathered at 10 Downing Street, London, on Friday condemning Britain’s lead role in the suppression of independent Tamil political opinion, both before and after Sri Lanka’s genocidal onslaught in 2009. While the UK itself has stated that the LTTE is defunct for the past 5 years, it continues to justify the ban on the Tamil movement, still criminalising all the individuals who were associated with the armed struggle in the past, the protesters said. In the meantime, young Tamil activists who took part in the protest were of the opinion that the fight against the injustice of the past, especially the political struggle against EU ban on the LTTE, an act that enabled the Sri Lankan State to end the peace process in a genocidal onslaught, was a crucial component of the Tamil struggle.
The protest comes as the British government is set to defend its 2006 stance on the act of proscribing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at the European Court of Justice on 26 February this year.
The UK would also be arguing against the removal of the LTTE from the list of proscribed organisations as the Sri Lankan Defence Minister Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has been demanding, the activists further said.
“What the ban achieves is the castigation of Tamil political activists as terrorists,” said Tamil youth activist Sathapalan Kanesalingam adding that Britain’s continued criminalization of the Tamil movement only served to support and legitimize the genocidal Sri Lankan state.
The protest was attended by more than 250 Eezham Tamil activists.
Britain is a key international player and it is refusing to concede Sri Lanka's genocide. The British government is reducing the crime of genocide to just war crimes committed by ‘both sides’, the protesters said. An international investigation should be on genocide and it should be conducted under the legal regime of an international court, they further said.
Colombo government banned the LTTE in 1998 when it launched a big offensive titled ‘Operation Jeyasikurui’ (Operation Victory Assured). But, the Tigers defeated the SL military in the operation that lasted for 2 years, paving way for internationally facilitated talks between the Tamils and the Sri Lankan State.
In 2001, the British government added the LTTE to its list of proscribed organisations, while the Sri Lankan government was under pressure from the Tigers to lift the ban on the movement in order to participate in the Norwegian facilitated peace talks.
The West, using the peace facilitation to bring the Sri Lankan State into its fold, used its ‘carrot and stick’ approach without considering the genocidal outcome. As a result, the SL State was strengthened with the ‘diplomatic carrots’ from the West while the Tamil side was weakened by the sticks of the West.
“There are many sides to this war. Why are you limiting the sides to just two sides,” Mr Sathapalan asked.
The EU ban on the Tigers came in 2006 during the talks when Sri Lankan military Establishment was locking the LTTE into a shadow war.
Colombo banned the LTTE in January 2009 to permanently close the doors for the ceasefire demand. Meanwhie, the West represented by the Co-Chairs was trying to get the Sri Lankan State into its lock by negotiating a ‘surrender’ of the LTTE. The Tigers and the Tamil people were not prepared to accept a surrender to the Colombo government as the act would tantamount to the political capitulation of the Tamil aspiration.
Chronology:
26.02.14 EU terror ban on LTTE challenged
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NPC member presents data exposing extent of genocidal land grab in Vanni
[TamilNet, Friday, 21 February 2014, 23:09 GMT]Colombo has seized at least 30,000 acres of residential and agricultural lands for Sinhala colonization in Mullaiththeevu district alone after 2010, according to the data presented by Northern Provincial Council (NPC) member Thurairasa Raviharan, who moved a resolution condemning the demographic changes at the NPC. The land grab in Sinhalicised Gajabapura in Oddu-chuddaan is also being expanded to the ancient village of Othiya-malai, Mr Raviharan said adding that the Colombo government was using the Mahaweli ‘Development’ Porgramme’s L Scheme to occupy the lands in Mullaiththeevu district. Othiyamalai is situated 25 km beyond the reach of Mahaweli waters, he said.
300 Sinhala families have been brought from South into Gajabapura, which was earlier known as Ceylon theatre. Each of the occupying family has received 1/2 acre residential land and 1 acre of agricultural land. Similarly, 450 Sinhalese families have been brought into Nikkawewa , 400 families into Kalyanapua and 400 in Kiripanwewea, Mr Ravikaran said.
Sinhalese from South have been brought in to the occupied Tamil villages. Not a single Tamil has received lands from Colombo under the Mahaweli scheme so far in Mullaiththeevu district, the NPC councillor said.
In Odduchuddaan, ancient Tamil villages have become Sinhalicised into Gajabapura, Nava-kalyana-pura, Apitawatunu-wewa and Nikkawewa, These areas now come under the Sinhala division of ‘Weli Oya’.
In Karai-thu'raip-pattu division, Tamil villages have been Sinhalicised into Janakapura, Kiripanwewa, Agatualwewa, Kalyanapura and Sampathnuwara.
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