Sri Lanka’s refusal to disarm Army-backed paramilitaries has become the central issue in the peace process and seems increasingly likely to derail the Norwegian initiative in Sri Lanka.

The paramilitaries themselves are now brazenly parading in Army-controlled areas carrying their weapons and threatening supporters of the Liberation Tigers in a defiant response to the Sri Lankan government’s pledge during the February talks in Geneva to disarm them.

Despite its pledge during the closed door talks in February, the Sri Lanka government in public continues to deny any link between the paramilitaries and its security forces – despite both engaging in combined cordon-and-search operations and international ceasefire monitors coming across armed men in government-controlled areas who openly admitted to be members of paramilitary groups.

Sri Lanka says that anti-LTTE groups are operating in Tiger-controlled areas but not in government-controlled areas and denies military backing. The Tigers say Sri Lankan military intelligence is organizing the paramilitary attacks on its members and supporters.

The Sri Lankan government clashed last week with the Nordic Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) which protested Colombo’s denials that armed groups were operating in its controlled areas.

In a two-page letter addressed to the Sri Lankan Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the SLMM’s outgoing chief, Hagrup Haukland, said the monitors encountered 10-15 armed men in civilian clothes operating in Army-controlled Valachchenai, who told the SLMM that they belong to the Karuna Group, one of five paramilitaries the LTTE says are being deployed by the military.

Haukland also referred to several “sighting of armed civilians claiming to represent Karuna is often reported to SLMM.”

Asserting that the monitors have strong suspicions about armed groups also setting up in the Vavuniya, the letter added the SLMM was aware of 11 civilians being killed in government-controlled areas in the east and six in Vavuniya since Feb. 23rd, the day on which talks in Geneva concluded.

Haukland’s letter was sent in response to the Defense Secretary’s strongly worded note about the contents of a SLMM statement issued earlier.

In a single-page letter, Rajapakse accused the SLMM of “misleading,” and making “defamatory,” inferences in their statement. He was specifically referring to paragraph 5 of the SLMM statement which said;

“The Sri Lankan Army has recently dismissed claims that armed groups are operating in Government controlled areas. However, based on SLMM’s monitoring activities and experience on the ground the Mission does not share the this view and we would like to urge the Government of Sri Lanka to take this matter seriously and not close their eyes to armed elements that are to our knowledge still operating in Government controlled areas.”

The Defense Secretary charged the conclusion SLMM had arrived at was “without any conclusive evidence.” He subsequently asked for a meeting with Haukland to discuss the issue.

Haukland responded the following day, March 30th (Thursday), a day before he concluded his post as head of mission. Haukland successor, retired Swedish Major General Ulf Henricsson, took over the following day.

The LTTE’s chief negotiator, Anton Balasingham, said last week that the next round of talks would also be dominated by the same issue if the government fails to disarm the armed groups.

Meanwhile, the Sunday Times said that there had been a heated discussion between Haukland and Sri Lanka’s Defense Secretary on March 23, when he introduced Maj. Gen. Henricsson to Rajapakse.

“You have come here to do a job of work. If you want to do that efficiently, be impartial and don’t take sides,” Rajapakse had shouted at Haukland.

Thereafter, the Defense Secretary went on to give the outgoing and the new SLMM Head some advice, the Sunday Times reported - he said they should take time to learn about the culture and history of Sri Lanka.

Rajapakse accused SLMM chiefs of serving in jobs in Sri Lanka only to add such stints to their resume and not to achieve objectives. He accused the SLMM of failing to condemn recent Tiger guerrilla attacks on the armed forces field and the police.

The remarks drew a prompt reply from Haukland, whosaid the SLMM had no evidence against the LTTE. “You cannot attack a person if there is no evidence. I will deal with the person if I can catch them,” he pointed out.

Almost a month after the Sri Lankan government, concluding its first direct talks with the Liberation Tigers in three years, agreed to disarm its paramilitary units, absolutely nothing has been done. Admittedly, there are fewer killings than in the months preceding the Geneva talks. However, the anti-LTTE paramilitary groups are, if anything, expanding their operations with the undisguised assistance of Sri Lanka’s military. New camps are being established in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) controlled parts of Jaffna and Batticaloa. The bodies of murdered youth are still turning up along the roads and coastlines of the Tamil provinces. Most importantly, despite the undertaking given in Geneva by its delegation, the Sri Lankan government is again flatly denying its security forces’ role in mobilising and training the paramilitary groups and assisting them in the ‘shadow war’ against the LTTE. There is now an undeniable doubt over Sri Lanka’s bona fides.

The stark disparity between Colombo’s words and deeds is apparent even to Sri Lanka’s international allies. The annual Human Rights Report published by the US State Department this month, for example, gives extensive details of the paramilitaries’ activities, including the killing and disappearances of dozens of LTTE cadres and supporters. Moreover, it names three organisations – the Karuna Group, the PLOTE and the EPDP – amongst the anti-LTTE forces. The LTTE is also criticised for numerous killings – but the State Department report also notes that amongst those said to have been killed by the Tigers last year are a hundred paramilitary operatives, military informants and intelligence officers. Last week Donald Camp, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, acknowledged that the Sri Lanka’s support for the paramilitaries is “a serious Tamil grievance.”

Sri Lanka’s duplicity over the paramilitaries is not the only cause for concern. The vitriolic language increasingly being used by the Rajapakse administration against the LTTE is another. Foreign Minister Mangala Smaraweera is this month following in the footsteps of his late predecessor, Lakshman Kadirgamar, travelling from one foreign capital to another, demanding a crackdown on the LTTE. Just as his predecessor did, Mr. Samaraweera is instigating a concerted smear campaign against the LTTE to pave his way. The themes are not new, nor are the modalities: unsubstantiated accusations (levelled, of course, by anonymous informants) of criminality and illegality, as well as the cooption of nominally independent foreign voices to legitimise a strategy of demonisation. This month it was the New York based Human Rights Watch (HRW) which, with a sensational and alarmist report, provided the foil against which Mr. Samaraweera could urge the international community not to pressure Colombo for peace but instead help his government take on the LTTE. HRW of course denies Sri Lanka instigated their report, but Mr. Samaraweera was quoting it in - London in his lecture on ‘LTTE terrorism’ - even before HRW had released it in New York.

The point is this; protagonists who wish to strike peace deals seek to deescalate tensions, build mutual trust and demonstrate goodwill so as to make securing an agreement more likely. But the Rajapakse administration is doing the exact reverse of that. Whilst even its negotiators denounce the LTTE and make provocative statements, the government as a whole is engaged in a myriad of actions to stoke tensions. Restrictions on fishing – including restrictions on putting to sea, prohibitions on processing catches on the shore and even the regular seizure of catches by the military – are being increased, for example. Even actions such as the planned induction of Sinhala convicts into military occupied farms in Jaffna are meant to grate on Tamil sentiments.

In the meantime, Sinhala nationalist ideologues – including those of the JVP and JHU - are engaged in tub thumping or making crude threats against the Tamils in the south. It is also no accident that President Rajapakse’s ultra-nationalist allies are resuming their campaign against Norwegian peace facilitation at this junction. The Sinhala polity as a whole is engaged in patriotic outbidding (as ever, the supposedly liberal United National Party (UNP) is conspicuously silent on the questions of the day- peace, paramilitaries, even Norway). Some have rationalised this as electoral rhetoric aimed at wooing the Sinhala masses ahead of the March 30 local government elections. But what does that say about the prospects of a lasting solution in Sri Lanka?

The LTTE has formally raised doubts about the value of meeting again when the agreements of the last round of talks are patently being ignored by Colombo. This is not merely a question of tactical pressure on the government, as some have suggested. It is about the futility of seeking peace with the Sinhala state, indeed about the viability of a negotiated solution itself.

With less than a month before the next direct talks between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers, a litany of ceasefire violations ranging from paramilitary attacks and abductions to restrictions on fishermen are raising tensions.

Ten days ago, over 30 armed paramilitaries and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers attacked the LTTE’s Forward Defense Lines in the Batticaloa district before retreating to government-controlled areas.

At least nine youth were reported abducted in Batticaloa last week by Sinhala-speaking troops in military fatigue. Aged between 15 and 20, all were laborers. Five were abducted from the Tiger-controlled Murithanai, 5 km west of where two bicycling 15-year olds were abducted later in Valaichenai. Two other youth were kidnapped in Urani later Monday evening.

Batticaloa District Political Head of the LTTE, Daya Mohan, said Sri Lanka Army soldiers and paramilitary cadres took the youth to a safe house attached to a SLA 23-3 Division camp.

Another Tamil youth abducted by three armed men in Erlalai, Jaffna, was found with serious slash wounds to his body March 11. Residents saidfpr he may have been an informer to the Sri Lanka military and police, as his attackers fled when an SLA patrol approached.

A Tamil youth was shot in Kanniya, northwest of Trincomalee March 10, and international monitors of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) officials are investigating.

The day before, a young father was shot and killed on a bus traveling from Eravur to Batticaloa. Eyewitnesses say he was shot by a cadre from the paramilitary Karuna Group, attached to the Palpody camp of the government’s Special Task Force (STF). Two other civilians were injured in the shooting.

Six farm laborers were abducted in Batticaloa March 12, allegedly by paramilitary cadres in the restive East. A press release from the Tamil Tigers said, “the abductions and threats are causing fear among the Tamil people and are creating conditions for breakout of an all out war. We strongly condemn the serious violations to the Cease Fire Agreement.”

Meanwhile, tensions between the Sri Lanka’s military and Tamil fishing communities have also escalated in recent weeks.

The SLA prohibited fishermen from Kudathanai, Manatkadu regions in Vadamaradchi East from drying their catch on the shore. Most report having caught nearly 500 kg of seasonal sprats, which they will unlikely be unable to sell due to the SLA ban.

They have lodged complaints with the Jaffna Fisheries Union Consortium (JFUC), who report they will likely suffer substantial financial losses due to this unexpected ban.

The latest ban comes despite assurances from the Sri Lanka Navy that it would relax restrictions on fishing off Jaffna coasts. These statements were made during a meeting between the SLMM, SLN officers and JFUC representatives last Sunday.

Despite the February 2002 CFA obligating the lifting of all restrictions on fishing, the military continues to keep severe blocks in place, badly affecting the impoverished families along the Jaffna and other Northeastern coasts.

At one stage, the SLN partially removed the ban after continuous protests by fishermen and complaints from Tamil parliamentarians.

However, fishermen’s earlier passes from the Ministry of Fisheries will no longer suffice, and will now need new passes from the SLN. Fishermen report this process has taken over two weeks for many, describing growing agitation at these threats to their livelihood. Fisheries officials also report that the SLN is refusing to grant passes to families who relocated to Northern shores after the tsunami.

Fishermen in Mannar have also been suffering due to haphazard meetings by the District Fisheries Committee (DFC). Agriculture and fishing are the major components of Mannar’s economy.

Both the DFC and the District Agricultural Committees are supposed to meet monthly to address problems faced by Mannar farmers and fishermen, but Tamil MPs have reported a lethargy and indifference to the continuing difficulties of fishermen.

Meanwhile, the SLA ordered the closure of the fish market located near Point Pedro, Jaffna. The SLA recently built new sentry points and a mini camp near the market, and claimed the market posed a security threat to their new positions. Nearby fishing families will be greatly inconvenienced by this forced closure, fisheries officials said.

The SLN harassment of Jaffna fishermen has extended to include fishermen from South India. Five fishermen from Tamil Nadu entered Munai area last Sunday and were taken to the shore by Vadamaradchi fishermen. SLN troopers demanded the local fishermen hand over the Indian fishermen, but they refused. After escalating threats, SLN soldiers took both sets of fishermen to the 52-4 Brigade quarters for investigation.

The Indian fishermen fear being detained for months without charge, as is often the case in such cases.

Meanwhile, the SLA is reconstructing previously abandoned positions in Valikkandy, at the border between Vadamarachi North and Vadamaradchi East. The rebuilding of Valikkandy is part of the SLA’s effort to strengthen its forward defense positions in the peninsula.

Many of the SLA camps and points were dismantled after the ceasefire agreement was signed in 2002, and are being reinstated despite new Norwegian brokered talks.

The northern town of Vavuniya remains uneasy after several recent grenade attacks. Grenades exploded in one business and at the home of a business owner last Friday, but no one was injured. A grenade was thrown at the residence of another business owner last Wednesday, but there were no injuries.

The business community in Vavuniya has also reported increasing demands from people claiming to be from the Karuna group. The rising extortion threats have been raised with the SLMM.

Despite the Sri Lankan government’s pledge last month to disarm Army backed paramilitary groups, activities by the gunmen have continued and have, if anything, expanded, sparking angry protests and raising doubts over the second round of talks between Colombo and the Liberation Tigers scheduled for next month.

LTTE officials say that far from dismantling paramilitary operations in the Northeast as obliged under the February 2002 Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) and in line with the agreement struck at the first round in Geneva in February, the Sri Lanka military is assisting the paramilitaries in setting up new bases and forcibly conscripting new cadres.

Renewed pressure by the international community, including the United States, is having no effect and, LTTE officials say, is raising doubts as to the efficacy of continuing to hold talks with the recalcitrant administration of Mahinda Rajaapske.

Furthermore, the government of Sri Lanka (GoSL), has embarked on an international campaign to demonise and criminalise the LTTE, rather than to engage in mutual confidence building measures, they say.

According to the joint statement issued by the LTTE and GoSL, the latter “committed to taking all necessary measures in accordance with the Ceasefire Agreement to ensure that no armed group or person other than Government security forces will carry arms or conduct armed operations.”

However, since the Norwegian brokered talks concluded there have been several lethal attacks on LTTE positions, often by uniformed paramilitaries who withdraw to Sri Lanka Army (SLA) bases behind the frontline separating both protagonists.

There have also been a spate of abductions of young men and boys by paramilitaries – which Sri Lankan military spokesmen blame the LTTE for – in the eastern Batticaloa district. Angry, violent protests by local residents secured the release of two teenagers grabbed by paramilitaries traveling in a white van in a SLA-controlled area. However, many remain missing.

International Pressure

The Sri Lankan government is resisting strong international pressure, notably from the United States. Last week the US State Department’s annual Human Rights Watch report on events of 2005 singled out three groups – EPDP, PLOTE and the Karuna Group – as amongst the groups involved in the violence that gripped Sri Lanka last week.

The State Department criticized the LTTE for several killings, but noted that many of the victims were anti-LTTE paramilitaries, military informants and military intelligence officers.

Also last week, Donald Camp, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, also raised the issue of paramilitaries during a House Committee on International Relations.

Describing the demand for the disarming of the paramilitaries as “a serious Tamil grievance,” Mr. Camp noted that GoSL had committed to carrying this out.

Mr. Camp also addressed the issues of lack of religious freedom, flight of refugees to Tamil Nadu, the uneven distribution of relief to NorthEast and the failure of P-TOMS, the joint mechanism to share aid between LTTE and GoSL.

Denials

But the Sri Lankan government meanwhile continues to deny any connection with the paramilitaries, prompting challenges from international ceasefire monitors overseeing the February 2002 truce.

First the Sri Lankan military denied the existence of paramilitaries and lately, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister, Mangala Samaraweera, denied paramilitaries were operating in his government’s controlled areas.

The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) also challenged the denials, urging the military “to be truthful” and questioning the Minister’s assertions.

SLMM head Hagrup Haukland said the SLMM was monitoring the activities of the armed groups and would present a report at the next round of talks in Geneva from April 19-22.

Last week, LTTE’s Jaffna political head Illantheriyan met SLMM representatives on Monday and lodged a complaint that armed groups were seen operating in the Jaffna peninsula last week despite heavy army presence in the area.

Mr. Samaraweera also asserted in the BBC interview that his government would not disarm the Karuna Group, as it was “an internal problem of the LTTE”.

The LTTE responded said the government was obliged to take responsibility for disarming the Karuna Group because Colombo had meddled in the issue, which was at one time an internal problem of the LTTE, by providing arms and support to the renegade commander Karuna.

Warnings

With Colombo refusing to budge on the miltiary’s support for the paramilitaries, the LTTE has warned that next month’s talks may not go ahead.

“The [next] Geneva peace talks will face grave danger if the Sri Lanka government refuses to disarm Tamil paramilitary organisations and continues allowing them to launch offensive military operations against our military positions in Batticaloa district,” Mr. Anton Balasingham, the LTTE chief negotiator and political strategist, said Monday (13).

He accused the Sri Lankan security forces of actively participating with armed Tamil paramilitaries in the recent attacks on LTTE’s sentry posts in in the Batticoloa district.

“These offensive military operations have taken place after the Geneva peace talks, where the government had pledged to uphold the obligations of the Ceasefire Agreement in disarming the Tamil paramilitaries and putting an end to their violent activities,” he said.

“The involvement of the armed forces in the operations of Tamil paramilitaries constitutes a serious breach of the spirit of the Geneva talks, and also must be considered as an act of bad faith on the part of the government”, Mr Balasingham said.

“The LTTE leadership is watching the current developments after the Geneva talks with serious concern and dismay. So far the government has failed to take any action to contain the violence of the Tamil paramilitaries operating in the Tamil areas, particularly in the eastern province,” he said.

“LTTE leadership is also losing faith in the current peace efforts when Sri Lankan political leaders and senior personnel of the security establishment issue contradictory and hostile statements against the letter and spirit of the Geneva talks,” the LTTE’s theoretician explained.

Demonising

He was referring to hardline, bellicose statements by Sri Lankan government officials, including delegates in the GoSL team for the Geneva talks.

Sri Lankan state media has meanwhile adopted a hostile stance on the LTTE and compromise with them. The hardline position is being adopted by Sinhala-owned private media in Sri Lanka too, which some LTTE officials suspect is being encouraged to do so.

In the international arena, Mr. Samaraweera has been touring several countries, condemning the LTTE to other governments, using provocative language of ‘terrorism’ and calling for punitive actions by those states against the LTTE.

This public belligerency, according to the LTTE, is proof that the Rajapakse administration is not committed to compromise in a negotiated solution to the ethnic question and not to the stabilization of the fraying ceasefire.

Notably, Mr. Samaraweera, speaking in London, referred to a Human Rights Watch report alleging extortion and intimidation of Tamil expatriates by the LTTE. Although HRW denies being instigated by Sri Lanka to publish the report, Mr. Samaraweera was referring to the report a day before it was published by the New York based group.

It has not escaped notice that amid a dispute between the GoSL and the LTTE on whether the February 2002 CFA should be amended or not, US Congressman Frank Pallone introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives on February 8 that it should be renegotiated. (The LTTE, backed by the international community, successfully argued in Geneva it should not.)

“It is necessary that the GoSL and the Tamil Tigers renegotiate a cease-fire agreement and implement the agreement in a productive and successful manner,” Mr. Palone said, adding, “is important that the US continue to reject the actions and violent tactics of the Tamil Tigers and apply international pressure to request that they begin conducting themselves in a responsible and credible manner.”

With the rival fronts about to finalise allocation of constituencies to their constituents, the focus will shift to selection of candidates this week.

Some smaller parties have already done that, presuming most of the constituencies they have sought will be allocated to them. Now that the alliances are almost final, there appears to be a balance between the formations. For almost every party the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-led Demo-cratic Progressive Alliance (DPA) has in its ranks, the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has tried to match it.

Interestingly, both the two formations can be called DPA: the AIADMK has called its alliance in Pondicherry Jananayaka Makkal Kootani, which can be translated as Democratic People''s Alliance. It is also to drive home the message that Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has an alliance "with the people."

But the more significant aspect of the combine that Ms. Jayala-lithaa has put together is that her party can flaunt just the same colours as the Opposition front - the AIADMK alliance will have a group of the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC); the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) will lend its Dravidian flag; there will be a Dalit party in the Dalit Panthers, a close friend of the Pattali Makkal Katchi; a couple of Muslim parties will bring in the green; and a splinter group of the All India Forward Bloc.

Two film-star formulations have been left out - Vijaykant and his Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam, and Karthik''s All India Forward Bloc.

While the DMK-led DPA plans to focus on the "misdeeds and misrule" of the "anti-people AIADMK regime," the ruling party has decided to seek a fresh mandate on the basis of its Government''s performance. There will be an equal emphasis on the "anti-people Government at the Centre," and the "anti-State activities or road blocks created by the Union Ministers from Tamil Nadu."

Government sources say if Ms. Jayalalithaa took "hard and unpopular decisions" in the first half of her tenure, it was because of the "fiscal crisis" she inherited from the DMK.

Over the past two years, she has not only steadied and impro-ved the finances, but also rolled back all the stiff measures and given back to the people what she had to take away earlier to get the State''s finances back on track.

"Today, nobody blames our Government for doing what it did. We are now in a position to afford these concessions because of the tough decisions our leader took early on. People now understand it and cannot be misled by the Opposition anymore," a senior functionary explains.

Though the State witnessed three drought years followed by the December 2004 tsunami and five spells of very heavy rain and flooding last year, the administration managed the situation "extremely well," the functionary says. If there are pockets where relief measures did not reach, the Government blames it on the Election Commission and the model code of conduct.

The AIADMK wants to go to town on the "short-shrift" the Centre has given the State.

Ms. Jayalalithaa will lead the attack against the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance Government at the Centre, with 13 Ministers from Tamil Nadu, for not doing enough for the State - relief not reaching in time, not enough funds allotted for tsunami relief and rehabilitation, blocking legislation to take over cable television networks, and a range of other issues, including the Centre''s "inability and indifference" to inter-State river disputes.

It promises to be a no-holds barred campaign this summer.

US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco Friday ordered release of a Tamil Sri Lankan asylum seeker detained since October 2001 in San Diego on suspicion that he once belonged to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), an organization included in the US Terrorism List.

The decision by a three member panel to release Ahilan Nadarajah, 25, is among the first to challenge the Bush Administration’s assertion that it may hold suspects indefinitely on terrorism charges while seeking to remove them from the US, the Washington Post reported Saturday.

“When examined under the analysis prescribed by the Supreme Court, Nadarajah's detention is unreasonable, unjustified, and in violation of federal law,” Judge Sidney R Thomas said.

“The [US] Government does not possess the authority under the general detention statutes to hold Nadarajah or any other alien who is similarly situated indefinitely," the Washington Post quoted the judge as saying.

Ahilan Arulanantham, a staff lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, said that the court’s decision might lead to the release of another asylum seeker on its client list who has been detained for years, the paper said.

Court documents said that Sri Lanka Army [SLA] soldiers swept into the Nadarajah’s family home, “beat him, blind folded him and took him into their camp.” Nadarajah was tortured but was released when his mother bribed an SLA soldier. He soon escaped to the US and arrested when he walked into US at the Mexico border, the Post said.

An immigration judge granted him asylum in 2003, saying the story was credible.

“The [US] Government got it completely wrong about my client. He is a torture victim and the government just ignored immigration court’s decisions [in 2003] and kept him locked up. You can’t just ignore that the immigration courts have found that he is not a threat to our country [US,]" the Post quoted Arulanantham as saying.

Nadarajah was arrested three times in Sri Lanka by military interrogators who burned him with cigarettes, put a gasoline-soaked sack over his head and beat him with pipes and rubber hoses while demanding he confess to membership in the LTTE.

In fact, he was picked up on three occasions by the Sri Lankan army and tortured. The first time was in 1997, when Nadarajah was a teenager, then again in 2000 and 2001.

While women all over the world are struggling to achieve their rights and to live in parity with men, the difficulties of Tamil women is incomparable to that of women in the west. The former live in fear and face enormous problems due to the conflict and due to Sri Lankan military personnel.

This was the theme of an event organised by Tamil Community Centre, a UK-based civil society group, to mark the International Women’s day on Saturday March 11. The event was held at the Council Chamber room of Harrow Council’s Civic Centre was presided over Ms. Kamalini Sivagurunathan.

Cllr. Paddy Lynn, the mayor of Harrow, inngurated the event by lighting a candle to remark the sacrifice of Tamil women. In her opening speech, the mayor condemned the atrocities committed against women and the use of rape as a weapon of war.

Dr. Shimala Suntharalingam of Centre for Health in Kilinochi, gave a detailed eye witness account of the current situation in the North East. She said the economic embargo that was imposed in the North East from 1990 to 2002 had created malnutrition, anaemia, maternal mortality and the most affected ones are the women and children.

“It was a pity that the international community could not take effective measures to remedy the situation. From my experience in working for Centre for Health, I doubt that the foreign officers who work for the INGOs understand the ground reality,” she said.

Mr. Gareth Thomas, Member of Parliament for Harrow and UK minister for International Development, explained his ministry’s commitment to addressing these issues, under the Millennium Development goals programme.

He accepted that his government could do much more and went on to describe his visit to a refugee camp in Ampara, eastern Sri Lanka last year. The minister said the camp, which is operated run by Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO), receives British development assistance in supplying water and sanitation facilities.

“Although the British Tamil people are willing to help those in homeland, it is not always possible due to the ban on LTTE. Most of the areas in North and East are under the control of the Liberation Tigers. The expatriate community is hesitant to help them, as they fear that the British government may not welcome these efforts as it has listed LTTE as terrorist organisation. The UK government should lift the ban on LTTE, on humanitarian grounds” said Cllr. Eliza Mann in her speech.

Cllr. Anjana Patel, chief whip of Conservative party Harrow council, spoke about the gender inequalities in governance. She compared Rwanda to Sri Lanka. In Rwanda, a much less developed country than Sri Lanka, women have fifty percent representation in parliament whereas in the latter, which elected the first women prime minister, only six percent of MPs are women, she noted.

Parliamentarian Andrew Dismore, Councillors Alison Morre, Susan Wayne, Navin Shah, Thaya Idaikkadar, Ranjit Dheer, and academic Dr. Dagmar Helman Rajanayagam and young Tamil women Mathavi Uthayanan, Sandi Balendra and Sivanthi Vijayakumar also spoke in the event.

The well-attended event concluded after giving a 20 minutes open discussion among the audience.

The Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance (SLTMA) in its annual report said 2005 was a black year for Tamil media journalists in the country.

“We lost three Tamil media persons including Mr.D.Sivaram, a reputed journalist and military analyst,” the annual report said. Excerpts follow:

“The ceasefire agreement now holding in Sri Lanka since February 22, 2002 has not guaranteed the security of Tamil media journalists. In the last year 2005 three Tamil journalists had been brutally killed. Mr. D. Sivaram, a well- known journalist at national and international level and who played a vital role in forming the Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance was brutally murdered. Other two Tamil journalists were Mr. S. Suhirtharajan, Trincomalee correspondent for Sudar Oli, Tamil daily and Mrs. Relanki Selvarajah, Tamil broadcaster.

“Jaffna offices of the two Tamil daily newspapers had been subjected to search by the government security forces. Grenade was thrown at the Colombo office of the Sudar Oli. Security forces assaulted journalists in Jaffna district when they were on duty. The attack on Tamil media by government security forces has increased last year. The security forces had taken Tamil journalists in Colombo for interrogation under the Emergency Regulations

“The Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance joining with other media associations including the Free Media Movement in the country has voiced its serious concern against the suppression and oppression on the Tamil media by the government forces. International media associations have also expressed their solidarity with Sri Lanka Tamil journalists.”

If on the peace front the Liberation Tigers are demanding the Sri Lankan government disband Army-backed paramilitary groups in the one time battlefronts of the north and east it is a different story. Sceptical of the government’s sincerity, they are hurriedly stepping up preparations for the eventuality of a war.

Some villages in the north and east have become centres for military training for civilians, the Sunday Times reported this week. In the north the areas set apart include the villages of Nedunkerny, Kanakarayankulam, Puliyankulam and Puthukudiyiruppu. In the east several areas including Rugam and Sinna Pullumalai in the Batticaloa and Eechalampattu in the Trincomalee districts have been designated for this purpose.

Of particular significance, the Sunday Times’ Defence Correspondent, Iqbal Athas, argues is the expansion of the seagoing arm of the LTTE, the Sea Tigers.

“Whilst dredging of the sea was being carried out in the waters off Mullaitivu to Chalai, new units have been formed. The latest is the Sea Tiger auxiliary force incorporating able bodied members of families of fisherman. A 500 strong group of them is reported to be undergoing training near Mullaitivu,” he writes.

Four auxiliary flotillas, named Thiruvady, Navarasan, Johnson and Maravan with hundreds of volunteers, were organised under Thamileelam Coast Guard Auxiliary Force, set up recently by the Tigers.

Subsequent to this, the Sea Tigers’ Special Commander, Colonel Soosai, has launched a program of Deep-Sea Operations training for selected naval ratings from recently trained auxiliary flotillas.

“Our enemy is strengthening the naval strength with the intention to beat us in the seas. We have to expand the capability of Sea Tigers to keep stronger in the sea to defend our homeland,” Col. Soosai said at the inauguration ceremony last Friday.

“The enemy has been given a serious opportunity to opt for peace. We are yet to see a clear choice favouring peace from the enemy. If they don’t disarm the paramilitaries, they don’t desire peace,” he said further.

The Sunday Times also reported that in the Vanni, over a thousand civilians from the Jaffna peninsula who entered the Vanni following violent incidents late last year are being put through courses. They include weapons handling, treating the wounded, recovering weapons from the defeated enemy and evacuating casualties.

In some of the villages in the north that adjoin or overlook armed-forces-controlled areas, civilian committees have been formed. Their task is to identify infiltrators – likely to be Army-backed paramilitaries.

These Committees have been told that soon all civilians living in guerrilla-dominated areas would be issued with what are called National Identity Cards, the Sunday Times said. “Such cards would carry the photograph of the holder, his name, address and personal particulars. Committee members have been told it was their duty to apprehend persons who do not possess identity cards and hand them over to the LTTE Police.”

Another batch of the LTTE’s rural volunteers brigade graduated two weeks ago, having undergone three months of rigorous military training including handling heavy weapons.

Colonel Sornam, Commander Vasanthan and Deputy Commander of Batticaloa District Ramanan took the salute at a ceremony on March 7.

“From Sri Lankan President Jayawardene’s time, through R. Premadasa, D. B. Wijetunge, Chandrika Kumaratunge and the Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe, every Sinhala leadership has deceived us,” Colonel Sornam told the graudates.

“Currently President Mahinda Rajapakse has also started to follow the path of his predecessors. We are being pushed back by the government of President Rajapakse to the war front to achieve our independence.”

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), a coalition of Sri Lanka’s biggest Tamil parties wants the Sri Lankan government to postpone the local government elections in the Northeast of the country due to the prevailing insecurity there.

“The ground situation in the East, where paramilitaries continue with threats, attacks, abductions and extortions, is not conducive to holding elections,” Selvam Adaikalanathan, TNA parliamentarian for Vanni district told reporters Sunday.

“Our candidates are being subjected to threats and harassments by the paramilitary elements in the Sri Lanka Army controlled areas on a daily basis in the run-up to the local elections,” he said.

Mr. Adaikalanathan was speaking after a meeting between the Liberation Tigers and the other TNA parliamentarians Sunday to discuss steps to be taken if Colombo insisted on holding the elections despite the Tamil request.

He condemned the government for delaying making a decision on holding local elections in the Northeast.

The final decision on holding the local elections in the NorthEast will be taken in a few days, said Mr Dissanayake, Sri Lankan Commissioner of Elections, said Saturday.

He was speaking after a meeting with District Secretaries of the Northeast in Colombo to discuss the difficulties in holding the local elections on 30 March.

Most of the District Returning Officers in the Northeast told the Commissioner at earlier conferences that holding elections to several local authorities located in the LTTE held territory will present security issues in having to setting up cluster polling stations for three hundred thousand voters to enter Government controlled territory to vote.

However, military authorities in the NorthEast have told the Election Department recommending setting up cluster polling booths as was done in the presidential election. But the most of election officials are not in favor of the suggestion by the military.

The Commissioner also told the Government Agents (GAs) to look into the possibilities of having the elections in government controlled areas, if not LTTE controlled areas.

In the Jaffna electoral district, about 1,11,290 voters reside in LTTE held territory, in Wanni electoral district about 90,338, in Trincomalee electoral district about 6,179, and in Batticaloa electoral district about 80,443.

Meanwhile, candidates competing in the Vavuniya district local council elections under the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchchi (ITAK) ticket – the flag under which TNA is competing – met with TNA MPs to plan their strategy.

Reviving memories of how state sponsored colonisation of Tamil areas in the eastern province began in the eighties, press reports last week said Sri Lanka plans to move hundreds of Sinhala convicts to an army-held enclave in the northern Jaffna peninsula

The transfer is ostensibly to grow vegetables for the military garrison in the wholly Tamil-speaking region.

Forced to fly up to 1.5 tonnes of vegetables a day into the Jaffna peninsula to feed 40,000 troops because of patchy local supplies, the army plans to send as many as 200 prisoners serving time for minor offences to work on a farm, Reuters reported.

“We have a farm there. The farm is not maintained properly, because we don’t have (enough) people. So we can hand it over to them as an open prison and they can work there and we can get vegetables,” military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said.

The LTTE have imposed bans on sales of provisions to the army, cut off from the south of the country by a swathe of Tamil Tiger controlled territory.

But many Tamils suspect the move is an effort to begin colonisation of parts of the Jaffna peninsula. The military’s high security zones comprise vast areas and dozens of Tamil villages whose inhabitants have been displaced for over a decade.

Tamil areas in the east were sometimes colonised by allocating land from which Tamil residents had been driven out by the security forces, to Sinhala convicts who are denied land allocations in the south.

Sri Lanka’s prisons chief aims to have the plan operational within weeks, and wants the army to pay the prisoners around 4,000 rupees (23 pounds) each a month for their services.

The proposed site, on heavily defended army land with its gun turrets and the ruins of buildings destroyed by years of heavy shelling, is a natural open prison.

“Because they (will be) in Palaly, a high security zone, they have no escape whatsoever,” said Rumy Marzook, Commissioner General of Prisons, referring to the Palaly region where the army’s northern base is located.

“It is a good plan and I am waiting for the approval of the government,” said Rumy Marzook, whose other innovative ideas have included encouraging inmates to make and sell coffins.

Marzook wants to send 70 prisoners from the main prison in Colombo to a sprawling heavily guarded air base in the peninsula with lots of room for farming. His earlier plan to make coffins was a success.

TamilNet: You were part of the LTTE delegation in Geneva. How do you view Colombo’s commitment to the peace process?

Nadesan: We have been involved in many talks with Sri Lanka, from Thimpu talks in India to the present one. But it has always been the agenda of Colombo to eventually opt for a military solution. The outcome of talks with the assistance of a neutral international facilitator will thus be favourable to Tamils. The International Community has now glimpsed the true face of the Sinhala Government that we are forced to deal with. In the past we have conducted talks with the Indian Government and various Colombo Governments. What we saw in Geneva was that the present Government in Colombo lacks maturity. The way their delegates spoke at the table clearly showed where they are. They also lack political maturity to deal with the ethnic question and to make use of international facilitation. For example, the Sri Lankan IGP (Inspector General of Police) [Chandra Fernando] who came to Geneva, instead of exploring ways to end the present cycle of violence launched a tirade about the early killings such as those of Alfred Duraiyappah so and on. The point about negotiations should be to resolve the problem, not just point fingers. We could also come to the talks and cite tens of thousand of grave crimes against humanity by the Sri Lankan regime. But it is not the way you go forward with the issues in the talks. Did they come to Geneva to attend a court proceeding or for serious negotiations to end the violence? The aim of these talks was to discuss and find a way to solve the issues on the table. But the IGP behaved like a policeman in Sri Lanka, who files cases without evidence under their PTA and Emergency Regulations. He did not behave like a delegate of a state trying to solve a national crisis at all. Again, after the Geneva talks, the IGP issued a premature statement to Colombo Press about our Chief Negotiator’s response to his accusations. He denies the existence of Tamil paramilitary groups. He has not understood the prevailing situation regarding the peace process in Sri Lanka. The International Community on various occasions has also raised the problem of Tamil paramilitary groups that he denies. Even the recent report issued by the US State Department names the Tamil paramilitary groups. But the Sri Lankan IGP insists that there is only one paramilitary - the Special Task Force (STF) in Sri Lanka.

TamilNet: What are the main areas of concern of the Thamileelam Police during the Ceasefire between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Government of Sri Lanka?

Nadesan: There was a big change in Police requirements in the area we administer since the peace process began. A good example is traffic management. Following the Ceasefire Agreement in February 2002, we had to strengthen traffic routines to prevent accidents. One would have observed a big difference between the number of accidents in Sri Lanka Army controlled areas and the areas we administer. Our Policing style and approach are designed to be people-friendly in attitude and conduct. We interact with various civil institutions such as schools to nurture respect for the traffic rules and practices. We set out measures to educate students, the younger generation and workers on traffic rules and regulations, winning their respect for a dedicated and effective implementation. It is the inclusive approach that helps us to enforce the procedures. Our leader, Mr. Vellupillai Pirapaharan is very specific about this user-friendly policing approach. It begins even with the blue Police uniform which was designed to symbolise a friendly approach, this is in contrast to the traditional semi-military khaki uniform worn by police in many other places. Mr. Pirapaharan is very particular about this attitude: we are at the service of the people. Another issue that we had to deal with increasingly during the CFA was that many individuals suspected of or responsible for committing serious crimes within the Sri Lanka Army controlled areas attempt to escape into our territory and vice versa. We are in the process of building structures to deal with these challenges.

TamilNet: Outside the Police, what kind of infrastructure and administration-related issues are being addressed by the Liberation Tigers?

Nadesan: New administrative structures are being developed. For example, Tamils were deprived of computer facilities during the wartime due to Colombo’s economic embargo. In particular, Tamil children need to enter the Information Age. Almost all the fields in education need to absorb new knowledge and we need structures to deal with that challenge. We can’t wait for a political solution to address these important issues. We are continuously engaged in establishing ways to address the pressing requirements of our society. For example, there are new Laws being tabled by the Thamileelam Judiciary. An example is the recent Land Distribution Law. It is our intention that no single individual should be landless in our society. Our national leader specifically urged our Judiciary to research and find out ways to ensure distribution of land to all those landless in the areas under our administration. A law has now been enacted and is being implemented. There is a structure similar to a Land Department Authority under the jurisdiction of the new Law. Another example is building construction. There are many contractors engaging in building constructions during peace - time. A law is codified and being implemented with necessary structures to ensure that adequate standards are maintained. This type of additional structures are necessary to enable the entry of our people into the modern competitive world on an equal footing with the people of any other country. It is the responsibility of a freedom movement like ours to ensure this.

TamilNet: How does the Thamileelam Police interact with the International NGOs?

Nadesan: We closely co-ordinate with the ICRC, UNHCR, and the UNICEF. The ICRC, which works with Human Rights issues and the welfare of prisoners, is provided access to all our police stations and the prisons. They have access to all the documents. They conduct regular monthly visits. We have, in our Police Training, introduced advanced Human Rights courses like the new Police Training programs in many other countries. These courses specify the interpretation and adaptation of International Human Rights practices to meet the realities on the ground. The UNHCR also conducts, from time to time, workshops and seminars on gender violence and fundamental Human Rights for our policemen. Our women Police officers participate in seminars with UNICEF on Gender Violence and Women’s and Children’s Rights.

TamilNet: What measures do the Police undertake to defend the rights of Women and Children?

Nadesan: Our leader, in his periodic briefings to me, use to remind me that the Police should be proactive, with an attitude to serve, and seek advice from competent people to acquire relevant knowledge. He would also remind that the Police, in the minds of the people, should not be viewed as an entity preoccupied with prosecuting cases. We are working on procedures and training on how to work with women related issues in urban society, in towns, and in rural areas, The awareness of certain rights need to be instilled in the minds of housewives and working women. The Police service is thus a cornerstone in creating a consciousness of Social Independence. Shedding crocodile tears, the Sri Lankan government, which readily bombed Tamil schools and caused severe malnutrition amongst our children during the war, is now talking about child soldiers and engaged in a propaganda campaign against the Tigers on child recruitment. They go around with statistics compiled before Karuna’s administration was brought to an end in the east. It was because of Karuna our leadership had to tackle with the problem of forced child recruitment. I was specifically asked by our leader to extend our Police administration in the East, as were the Chief of Intelligence [Pottu Amman] and Chief of Finance [Thamilenthi], as there were complaints and reports about irregular conduct and corruption under Karuna. That is why Karuna publicly named me and the other two as his prime enemies, soon after rebelling. The first thing our leader did after defeating Karuna’s rebellion was to secure the release of many under-aged youths in his camps. Now Karuna is with the Colombo government and we see he is still engaged with the same tactics from the opposite camp.

Our Judiciary is also working with codification of Child Rights. A dedicated division on Women and Children’s Affairs is operating in the Police service and it is to be expanded with its own building and programs. Our policemen are continuously trained and put on courses on these issues.

TamilNet: What reaction does this draw from the international community?

Nadesan: Whether the NGO representatives in Kilinochchi openly say it to media or not might be a matter of politics, but we have on various occasions received positive feedback from the visiting officials and from those I have met in my visits to Europe. Policy makers are appreciative of the effective functioning of our Police. For example, a top level ICRC official who met Mr. Anton Balasingham, myself and Mr. Thamilchelvan in Geneva, was appreciative of our working relationship with their delegates here.

TamilNet: How do you gather and incorporate knowledge into training?

Nadesan: First of all, we provide education in the history of our liberation struggle and its politico-social history to all our police personnel. Our people have undergone a lot of hardships. A policeman with political sensitivity and historical understanding would be committed to serve and safeguard the society from corruption and crime. Otherwise you will end up like the Sri Lankan Police with underworld elements inside the police itself. You get insight and maturity with knowledge. Our policemen are entirely different to the Sri Lankan police. They are polite when addressing the public and have earned the respect of the people. Acquiring expertise and adopting it and applying it to our local conditions is a continuous process. We have for example the Thesavalamai, the traditional law, which was codified in the beginning of the 17th century. These laws are specific to Tamil society and differ in significant areas from that of the Sri Lankan traditional law in the south. Our Thesavalamai gives equality to both women and men while the Sri Lankan traditional law favours men. Such traditional laws and practices are compared to modern knowledge and practice.

We also study the Training Manuals and the Code of Practice of various Police forces from around the world. How are we going to be prepared to tackle computer crime in future? The British Police has a dedicated branch to deal with Internet Crimes. We have started training selected police officials with IT knowledge. We have recently established a Computer Section. There are also sophisticated technologies that we have begun to adopt, from DNA forensics to dog handling. We have already begun using fingerprints and are in the process of acquiring the technology and tools for using and analysing photographic evidence. We are training our officers in DNA analysis. Although we don’t have organised crime as such in our areas, we need to be prepared to cope with the challenges in future. There are even probabilities of persons involved in such crimes in other countries, engaged in such crimes in the Diaspora community, entering our homeland. We are studying the crime patterns among the Diaspora communities in various countries in exile and are aware of the developments in this regard and the requirements. I have suggested to some Police officials whom I have discussed such matters in the West to actively disseminate knowledge to the youngsters via their parents to develop respect for law enforcement.

Tamil Net: Do you maintain contact with the Sri Lankan Police.
Nadesan: No. We have no contacts with them. In the Sri Lankan military occupied territories of Tamils, there are many problems. Some of the issues are caused by a pre-planned agenda of the military institutions. They distribute and allow free flow of narcotics and porno films to divert the attention of the youth in degenerative directions. There is also an environment allowed and nurtured to seduce Tamil youth into crime. These are only a few to mention. We can’t allow our citizens to be corrupted and destroyed. We have now established a Police station in Pallai to conduct investigations in Sri Lanka Army controlled parts of Jaffna. There is an efficient Judicial Courts in Pallai to attend the cases from SLA controlled Jaffna area also.

TamilNet: Three Sri Lankan Policemen who entered the LTTE controlled area in Mannar were in the custody of the Tigers for some weeks. This was interpreted as a tactic to secure the release of the LTTE cadres in Sri Lankan custody.

Nadesan: It is a misinterpretation. There were six Sri Lankan policemen who together entered the LTTE administered area in Mannar searching for an international criminal. Three of the policemen were released soon after the group was held. We do also have our intelligence sources within the Sri Lankan Police force. We had credible reports to give us sound reasons for detaining the other three. Two of them have now been released at the request of the LTTE leader. One is still in our custody.

Commenting, amongst other abuses, on the numerous killings in Sri Lanka’s northeast last year, the US State Department’s 2006 annual human rights report blamed “paramilitary forces” as well as the Liberation Tigers for “politically motivated killings” and singled out three paramilitary groups – the Karuna Group, EPDP and PLOTE – for criticism.

The State Department also said many of those killed by the LTTE were members of the anti-LTTE paramilitary groups and informants for the security forces.

The 2006 State Department report notes that “both the [Sri Lankan] government and the LTTE frequently violated the 2002 peace accord,” in reference to the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) which came into effect in February that year.

According to the CFA, which was hailed at the time of its signing by the international backers of the Norwegian peace process, Sri Lanka should have disarmed its Army-backed paramilitary forces and disbanded them or absorbed them into its regular armed forces for service outside the Tamil northeast.

The government of Mahinda Rajapakse insists this has been done, but throughout a cycle of violence that has escalated in the past two years despite the formal truce, the LTTE has insisted that Sri Lankan military intelligence is deploying five paramilitary groups in a concerted campaign of violence against its members and supporters.

The State Department’s 2006 report also raises doubts about the government’s denials.

“There were numerous reports that armed paramilitary groups, suspected of being linked to the government or security forces, participated in armed attacks during the year. These groups included the Karuna faction of the LTTE, the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), and the People’s Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE),” the report said.

“There were reports that the government provided protection and military aid to Karuna and his cadres to assist them in their fight against LTTE cadre. The government denied any connection to Karuna and his cadres,” the report also said.

Karuna, the Tigers’ most senior commander in the east, defected to the SLA in April 2004 following the collapse of his six-week rebellion against the LTTE leadership. Since then several LTTE cadres and supporters, paramilitaries and security forces personnel have been killed in violence that has come to be characterized as a ‘shadow war’ or ‘subversive war.’

“[Although] there were no confirmed reports of politically motivated killings by the government; however, it was often alleged that paramilitary groups, sometimes with the aid of the government, engaged in targeted killings of political opponents,” the report said. “The government and the army denied the allegations.”

The State Department report also said there were “25 instances of politically motivated disappearances at the hands of the security forces during the year, and 10 instances by paramilitary forces allegedly tied to the government,” citing figures by Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Commission.

In addition “there were no developments in any of the unclassified disappearance cases cited by the 2000 UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances; neither was there any effort put forward by the government to gather information on these cases,” the US report added.

Many of those killed by the LTTE were members of anti-LTTE paramilitary groups, the State Department report said, adding that members of anti-LTTE Tamil political parties had also been targetted.

“During the year there were credible reports that LTTE killed 68 members of the police and military, more than 106 members of anti-LTTE Tamil paramilitary groups, LTTE cadres loyal to the Karuna faction, alleged Tamil informants for the security forces, and civilians,” the report said.

“During the year 18 current and past anti-LTTE Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) members were killed. Credible sources indicated that the LTTE killed 45 members of the breakaway military leader Karuna’s group. There was also credible evidence that the LTTE killed 15 members of the military intelligence apparatus in a targeted campaign,” the report said.

“Gunmen from Karuna’s paramilitary group allegedly killed 27 LTTE cadres, including E. Kausalyan, the LTTE political leader for Batticaloa, and Sebastiampillai Jeyachandran, the LTTE political leader for Trincomalee. Karuna’s group was believed also to have killed 20 civilians, including the April 15 killing of Thirukkovil divisional secretary A.K. Thavaraja and the June 29 killing of newspaper distributor Arasakumar Kannamuthu.”

Amnesty International, in an Urgent Action release, has expressed “grave concern” for the safety of the seven Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) staffers who were abducted on 29-30 January and are still missing and calling on the Sri Lankan government to ensure the safety of other TRO workers.

In its appeal on Friday (10), Amnesty urged all concerned to write to the Sri Lanka Ministry of Defence, Inspector General of Police and Sri Lanka’s President Mr Mahinda Rajapakse to “undertake and complete as a matter of urgency thorough investigations into the fate and whereabouts of the seven,” and to ensure safety of all TRO workers and the families of the missing.

“It is feared that they may have “disappeared” and there are grave concerns for their safety,” Amnesty said.

“The TRO is seen as being closely affiliated with the LTTE. However, it is a legally registered Sri Lankan charity and its mission is to provide much needed relief, rehabilitation and development for the people of the northeast of Sri Lanka,” Amnesty said.

Contradicting claims by the government, Amnesty insisted “The TRO staff have continued to cooperate with the authorities.”

Amnesty urged its members to write to the Sri Lankan government “expressing concern for the safety of the missing TRO workers [and] urging the authorities to undertake and complete as a matter of urgency thorough investigations into the fate and whereabouts of the seven, and make the findings public.”

It urged members to urge the Sri Lankan authorities “to take immediate measures to ensure the safety of all TRO workers and others involved in humanitarian relief work.”

It also sought “immediate steps to be taken to ensure the safety of the families of the seven missing TRO workers.”

Amnesty noted that “The abductions of the TRO workers, which took place shortly after [talks were announced between the LTTE and Sri Lankan government] were interpreted by some as an attempt to derail this renewed effort to put the peace process back on track.”