2009   2008   2007   2006   2005   2004   2003

LTTE Constitutional Affairs Committee wraps up deliberations in Geneva

These Human Rights entities, after discussions with the Constitutional Affairs Committee and the NorthEast Secretariat on Human Rights (NESOHR), had separate discussions with Mr. S. P. Tamilselvan, Head of the LTTE Political Wing.

Excerpts from Mr. Tamilselvan's responses with special focus on human rights and the background in which NESOHR was institutionalized:

"The main purpose of our confab was to take on board the criticisms in the south of Sri Lanka pertaining to the proposals in the ISGA and bring out the right perspectives relating to each and every clause in the ISGA draft. The criticisms, most of them based on unfounded fear and suspicion and the usually cynical attitude of some extremists elements in the south, have been carefully studied with a view to present the right perspectives.

In our meetings with ICJ, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and like bodies, our attention was drawn to the wide spread accusations in Sri Lanka of the so-called political killings and the intake of under-aged children by the LTTE. In a post-war situation, specially after two decades of a horrendous war resulting in the killing of hundreds of thousands of Tamil civilians who were not a party in combat, destruction of the entire economic infrastructure and total devastation in the NorthEast, the traditional habitat of the Tamil people, the necessity arose to set in place a human rights mechanism to assess and bring to light the various acts of state terrorism and seek remedy and justice to the affected people.

Since the credibility and effectiveness of the Sri Lankan National Human Rights Commission was always found inadequate by the Tamil people, human rights activists in the Tamil society from all walks of life formulated NESOHR and the LTTE too has committed itself to the independent functioning of this entity. NESOHR has taken upon itself an all-encompassing mandate to record evidence from individuals affected and distinct bodies formed from time to time to address, among other matters,

" the killings of about two hundred Tamil refugees in St. Peters Church, Navaly, " dozens of school children in Nagarkovil, " refuges at Vavunikkulam church, " rural folk at Puthukkudiyiruppu market, " disappearance in several hundreds ending up in mass graves in Jaffna during the time of the Sri Lankan Military Commander Janaka Perera, currently serving as the High Commissioner in Australia, " arbitrary arrests and killings of refugees in the Vantharumoolai University complex, Kokkaddichcholai, Kiran and many other locations in the Batticaloa District numbering several hundreds.

These and numerous other incidents of killings by the Sri Lankan Forces have resulted in the parents, spouses dependants and relatives resigning to the fate without any access to justice. These people and those who have their kith and kin in Sri Lankan jails, incarcerated under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) for number of years without recourse to legal proceedings need a trustworthy and impartial mechanism that can effectively take up their cases and assist to seek justice. NESOHR has a big responsibility to interact with international human rights entities to deliver on its mandate.

There are wild accusations against the LTTE relating it to killings which are classified as political. The Cease Fire Agreement prohibits the activities of paramilitary groups, some of which are affiliated to the Sri Lankan military, in the NorthEast. It is these groups and the under world gangs aided by military deserters with arms that are responsible for most of these killings. We are of opinion that these groups are acting on an agenda of some political entities engaged in a campaign of discrediting the LTTE. Most of these killings are taking place in areas that are under military occupation and therefore with the law enforcement responsibility of the government.

More than sixty of our members including four totally disabled cadres doing political work have been assassinated by these groups penetrating into areas administered by us. These groups include men from the Para military wing of the EPDP and a handful of supporters who deserted the LTTE ranks along with the dismissed eastern leader Karuna. In such confrontations these men may get killed and that is inevitable. The rest of the killings are due to internecine disputes.

In this context, we have sufficient evidence and it is proposed to submit them to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) for investigation and interaction with the government. The Norwegian facilitators and the SLMM have been already informed of the situation and we are seeking their assistance to interact with the government and establish a mechanism to address this problem on a basis of exchanging information.

We are conscious of the concern of the international community in the welfare of the children in the midst of allegations relating to child soldiers. The LTTE is working on an Action Plan with the UNICEF in this matter with special attention to the social problem wherein many under-aged children seek enrollment in the LTTE claiming their age as 18 and above. On subsequent investigations when the age is proved to be less than 18 those children are handed back to the parents or guardians. UNICEF is aware of it. But some of the children tend to return to the LTTE and the obvious reason is the family background like poverty and loss of bread winners in war. The necessity therefore is to provide a conducive environment for the children by fulfilling their needs. Vocational training is one of the areas that we are seriously working on to address the problem of children affected by war."

07 October 2004

Print this

Email this