The Sri Lankan government has indicated that it may ban the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) once again, considering the stormy political developments in the Sinhala south and the stepped-up war against the armed movement in the north.

 

A ban on the LTTE will rule out the possibility of any negotiations to end the protracted conflict as the Tigers have consistently refused to talk whilst they are deemed outlaws.

 

According to Senior Presidential advisor and parliamentarian Basil Rajapaksa, the ruling SLFP’s parliamentary group last week approved a proposal to proscribe the LTTE if the movement continued its terrorist activities.

 

Basil Rajapaksa, who is also a brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa said that although some SLFP MPs expressed reservations on the grounds that a proscription would complicate the peace process, the proposal was backed by a majority.

 

“How soon the proscription will come will depend on how the LTTE operates in the coming weeks. If the LTTE continues with its terrorist activities, then the ban will come. The ball is now in the LTTE’s court,” Rajapaksa, said.

 

Rajapakse’s comments came at a time the ruling party was trying to woo Sinhala hardliner parties to support the annual Budget. Last Monday the government comfortably won the vote.

 

Rajapakse told the heads of the state media at a weekly meeting on Wednesday that President Rajapaksa was "willing to re-ban the LTTE" and negotiate with the Sinhala nationalist Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), Sri lanka’s third largest party, in an effort to widen its base of support, while getting ready for a showdown in Parliament.

 

UNHCR expressed its ‘grave concerns’ on the deteriorating security situation and various incidents reported from areas in the eastern Sri Lanka, including incidents of involuntary return of displaced people.

 

“UNHCR has received reports of a number of killings, abductions, incidents of harassment and general insecurity in these areas,” said UNHCR spokesperson, Jennifer Pagonis, at today's Palais des Nations press briefing in Geneva.

 

“We reiterate our call to the government to ensure that the returns are voluntary, safe and in line with international standards,” Pagonis said.

 

Around 250 displaced people, who returned to their villages of origin in the Trincomalee district a few weeks ago, after fleeing escalating violence in 2006, fled their homes again this week back to welfare centres in the Batticaloa district after serious security incidents in their villages.

 

UNHCR has received reports of a number of killings, abductions, incidents of harassment and general insecurity in these areas.

 

These incidents have made the returns unsustainable for these IDP families. Those who fled to Batticaloa have indicated that at the moment, they have no intention of returning to their villages of origin.

 

They said their homes had been looted and damaged, and they now have nothing to return to. Incidents such as these clearly affect the sustainability of returns. Security is one of the main prerequisites for return and it is the responsibility of the government to ensure the security of returnees. We urge the government to strengthen the return process and build confidence among the returnees. We warn against any further moves towards premature return until these issues are resolved.

 

UNHCR is also concerned about incidents of involuntary return during yesterday’s, (Thursday) returns to Chenkalady in Batticaloa West.

 

According to reports, displaced people, IDPs, who were unwilling to return, were informed by local authorities that their assistance would be withdrawn if they opted to stay behind UNHCR has received a petition from the group of 92 IDPs indicating their unwillingness to return. There are also reports of looting of shelter materials in the Batticaloa district.

 

We reiterate our call to the government to ensure that the returns are voluntary, safe and in line with international standards. UNHCR should be fully engaged in the process and we urge the government to work with experts in this field to ensure the rights of IDPs, as stated in international humanitarian law, are safeguarded at all times.

The Tamils Rehabilitation Organisations (TRO) has condemned the Sri Lankan government’s banning of the charity, saying the Rajapakse regime had done so with the “ulterior motive of unleashing untold hardships on the Tamil people as part of ][the government’s] continuing discrimination and oppression of the Tamil people.”

 

The TRO, which has been the largest - and for long periods the sole - NGO assisting the hundreds of thousands of Tamils displaced by the conflict, said in a statement this week “with the banning of the TRO the final nail in the coffin of the peace process has been hammered home.”

 

“It is a tragedy that the International Community, while ignoring the human rights abuses and violation of international humanitarian law by the GoSL, continues to dangle this ‘dead peace’, that the GoSL continues to show no interest in pursuing, before the Tamil people,” the TRO said.

 

The charity said the ban was a culimination of a campaign of harassment and violence against the organization and its staff carried out by the Rajapakse regime.

 

Last year the Sri Lankan government froze the TRO’s accounts. However, despite the move blocking the TRO’s post-tsunami projects being carried out in parallel with international NGOs, “the GoSL never filed any charges against TRO or submitted any evidence to the public or court for cross-examination.”

 

In January 2006 paramilitary groups, known to be working with and under the direction of the GoSL, abducted, raped, tortured and killed 7 TRO humanitarian workers, the TRO also pointed out.

 

Earlier this week analysts told international news agencies the GoSL’s action was part of its military drive against the Liberation Tigers.

 

"The government is continuously closing the doors to negotiations and it is continuously closing whatever opening there is for negotiations," Jehan Perera, Executive Director at National Peace Council, commenting on the ban of the TRO, told Reuters.

 

The full text of the TRO statement, issued November 18, 2007, follows

 

TRO condemns in the strongest possible terms the Government of Sri Lanka's (GoSL) banning of TRO. The banning of TRO will result in a further restriction on humanitarian relief to the Tamil people and has the ulterior motive of unleashing untold hardships on the Tamil people as part of the GoSL's continuing discrimination and oppression of the Tamil people.

 

Unfortunately, this ban, orchestrated by the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime, does not come as a surprise to the organization. The Mahinda regime, has, since coming to power in 2005, been trying to restrict, and eventually completely stop, all TRO humanitarian, reconstruction, and development programs in government controlled areas and have continually put obstacles in the way of TRO relief activities in other areas of the NorthEast.

 

 

In January 2006 paramilitary groups, known to be working with and under the direction of the GoSL, abducted, raped, tortured and killed 7 TRO humanitarian workers. The evidence of these paramilitary groups' affiliation with and control by the Sri Lanka armed forces is irrefutable and TRO holds the GoSL responsible for these deaths.

 

Additionally, TRO offices in GoSL controlled areas have been attacked numerous times by paramilitary groups and persons in "military fatigues". The Jaffna and Batticaloa TRO Offices were ransacked and set afire and the vehicles and office equipment destroyed. A staff member was killed in the final attack on the Batticaloa Office. These events usually occurred during curfew times and within 100 yards of Sri Lanka Police and Army checkpoints. Sri Lanka Armed Forces and Police also intimidated and threatened TRO staff at the office and in their homes

 

 

When these actions did not bear results and TRO continued, despite the threats and harassament, to function in GoSL areas and deliver vitally needed humanitarian relief and development, the GoSL froze the TRO bank accounts. TRO sought to challenge the basis on which these funds were frozen and petitioned the High Court in Colombo to review and "vary or vacate" its order to freeze the accounts. The court refused, finding that it did not have the jurisdiction to do so and that the GoSL had the right to freeze the funds indefinitely "for investigation".

 

TRO, on the advice of international organizations, our donors and partners, continued to pursue the case, seeking our "day in court" and the opportunity to prove our innocence of all charges. But the GoSL and the Sri Lankan judicial system are fundamentally corrupt without any concept of the notion of "justice". The "law" and "justice" in Sri Lanka are words without meaning, political expediency, corruption and influence peddling carry more weight with this regime and the effect is that political decisions are given the cloak of legitimacy.

 

The GoSL never filed any charges against TRO or submitted any evidence to the public or court for cross-examination or for TRO to have the opportunity to confront its accuser. Instead the GoSL dragged the case on for over 14 months. During this time the Mahinda regime continued threatening TRO staff in Colombo office, blocked funds from overseas meant to cover the legal costs and also pressured the owners of TRO Colombo office building not to rent to TRO.

 

 

As a result of our bank accounts being frozen, our office documents and assets being confiscated by the GoSL security forces and our offices in GoSL controlled areas attacked and destroyed, TRO was forced in 2006 to close its offices in GoSL controlled areas of the NorthEast leaving projects unfinished and war and tsunami affected persons in dire need. Through all this TRO continued to seek redress in the courts to overturn the account freeze.

 

 

TRO was founded in 1985 and prior to 2002 TRO functioned effectively in the Vanni. It was only after the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) signed between the GoSL and the LTTE in 2002 that TRO, at the urging of the international community and with the assistance and advice of international organizations, registered in Colombo as a charity/NGO (Number L 50706) under the Social Services Act.

 

During this period, TRO, as the largest NGO in the NorthEast, gave its full and unconditional support to peace efforts by creating confidence in the minds of the people that, after 20 years of war, the dawn of peace was at hand and by implementing development projects in collaboration with international organizations that promoted peace. TRO, due to the non-implementation of many of the promises made by the GoSL and the international community in the post-CFA period, was one of the few organizations actually delivering the "peace dividend" at the grassroots level. It is worthy to note that, for the most part, the peace dividend never materialized for the vast majority of those in the NorthEast due to the actions of the GoSL.

 

With the banning of the TRO the final nail in the coffin of the peace process has been hammered home. Today the pulse of the peace process has stopped and peace is a lifeless, dead body. It is a tragedy that the International Community, while ignoring the human rights abuses and violation of international humanitarian law by the GoSL, continues to dangle this "dead peace", that the GoSL continues to show no interest in pursuing, before the Tamil people.

 

 

Due to the GoSL actions against TRO and the return to war, TRO has been forced to move from the rehabilitation and development mode that characterized the 2002-2006 period, into a new conceptual space of emergency humanitarian relief and assistance to internally displaced war and tsunami affected persons. As in the period before 2002, TRO will engage in projects providing assistance to the war affected population utilizing our own funds. Now TRO will only need to be accountable and transparent to its beneficiaries, donors, and other stakeholders and it will not be necessary to get approval from the GoSL or be accountable to it.

 

 

There are many reasons for the Mahinda regime to take this punitive step against TRO. Apart from the fact that we were an impediment to the Mahinda regime's agenda of genocide of the Tamil people, TRO also refused to be used by the Mahinda regime to achieve the regime's political ends. The regime approached TRO numerous times with requests that were outside the mandate of TRO and would have violated the essential principles of humanitarian action and the humanitarian community. These principles demand that humanitarian organizations must be neutral, impartial and independent.

 

 

Though our organization is banned by the SL Government we assure you that our mission will continue in our homeland areas without interruption and we call on the international community and the Tamil Diaspora to continue to support TRO's work with war and tsunami affected persons.

It is with dismay that Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) learns of the actions of the Untied States Department of the Treasury under Executive Order 13224.

 

TRO reiterates that we are a local NGO providing humanitarian relief, reconstruction, rehabilitation and development to tsunami and war affected persons and NOT a "front to facilitate fundraising and procurement for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)".

 

Since the signing of the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) in 2002, TRO has worked with all three communities in the NorthEast: Tamil, Muslim and Sinhalese and in the aftermath of the tsunami was praised by the international humanitarian community for the speed and quality of our humanitarian relief and emergency response and received an award from the President of Sri Lanka for our construction of Temporary Shelters.

 

 

Despite the protestations of the U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka Robert Blake that, "…this designation is an action against the LTTE, not against the Tamil people," the actions of the U.S. Treasury Dept will in fact severely impact the Tamil people and cause further suffering to the most vulnerable sections of the Tamil population.

 

There seems to be an ongoing political witch hunt aimed at discrediting TRO and other national and international organizations working in LTTE held areas. It appears that the goal of this is to reduce humanitarian assistance provided to the Tamil civilian population in LTTE controlled areas as well as in GoSL war affected areas.

 

The freezing of the TRO bank accounts by the Government of Sri Lanka (4 September 2006) and the US Government (15 November 2007) will further exacerbate the humanitarian situation and cause untold suffering to the approximately 300,000 persons that rely on TRO assistance.

 

One therefore has to wonder what the goal of the US Government is since no proof of any wrongdoing has been presented that casts doubts on the work of TRO.

 

It seems that the GoSL has been given carte blanc by the U.S. and the international community as reflected in their continuing silence and/or weak public statements in the face of the escalating severity of human rights abuses against the Tamil people including: extra-judicial executions, disappearances, torture, rape, and the targeted bombing and shelling of Tamil civilians by the GoSL as well as the GoSL's restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian relief to the Tamil people and the use of food and medicine as a weapon of war.

 

 

The actions of the US Government are very distressing to the Tamil people on the island and the Tamil Diaspora.

 

The US Government currently does not provide any humanitarian relief to those in LTTE controlled areas and with the recent actions inevitably supports the GoSL's campaign to limit assistance to the Tamil people.

 

TRO is one of only a few organizations functioning in parts of the NorthEast and the actions of the US Government will lead to further suffering for the Tamil people.

 

The actions of the US against TRO are particularly worrying bearing in mind that the US Government is at the same time providing military assistance and training to the GoSL despite the GoSL's horrendous human rights record and its continuing violation of International Humanitarian Law.

 

Despite frequent attacks on TRO in the media and the freezing of TRO bank accounts in Sri Lanka and the USA, neither the GoSL nor the US government have shown any evidence of wrong doing.

 

While TRO-USA will immediately cease financial activities, as required by the laws of the United States, other TRO organizations throughout the world will continue to work for the benefit of the suffering war and tsunami affected persons. In the meantime, TRO-USA will appeal to the U.S. Treasury to review its decision and remove the proscription.

 

Unfortunately, the damage has been done and TRO's ability to fundraise and its work at the ground level will be severely impacted due to the actions of the US & GoSL and the dangers that TRO staff face in their efforts to provide humanitarian assistance will further increase.

 

 

TRO wishes to state categorically that all funds received are utilized according to the wishes of the donor, in line with the stated mission of TRO, to assist the tsunami and war affected populations of the NorthEast. None of these funds are, or have ever been found to have been, misappropriated for use by any other organization or used inappropriately by TRO itself. The GoSL, despite years of allegations, has never brought forth any credible evidence of wrongdoing by TRO.

 

TRO has placed a great deal of importance on always meeting international standards of transparency and accountability to our donors, beneficiaries and stakeholders. TRO has been audited each year by an independent Colombo based accounting firm as well as having had numerous individual projects and programs audited by, among others, the UK Charity Commission, ECHO, and a majority of its donors. None of these entities has ever accused TRO of providing funds to the LTTE or misappropriating funds for uses other than those they were intended for.

 

 

It is common knowledge that the GoSL has been on a world wide campaign to discredit TRO and it is unfortunate that the US Government has been influenced by the GoSL propaganda. Many of the false allegations and factual errors propagated by the GoSL appear in the US Governments statements.

 

There are many false allegations and factual errors in the Press Releases from the U.S. Embassy and Treasury Department some of which are listed below.

 

First amongst these is the statement/claim that: "TRO maintains a headquarters office in Kilinochchi, Sri Lanka and operates branch offices throughout Sri Lanka and in seventeen countries worldwide"

 

This is incorrect; TRO does not have or operate "branch offices" any where in the world. TRO is an organization registered and operating as an NGO in Sri Lanka with its headquarters in Kilinochchi. All other TRO offices and organizations are independent entities registered and operated under the laws of the host countries.

 

The US Treasury Dept. Press Release further states that: "The LTTE oversees the activities of the TRO and other LTTE-linked non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Sri Lanka and abroad". This statement attempts to portray the TRO and other NGOs as being directed and controlled by the LTTE. This is not the case. The TRO and other NGOs working in the NorthEast are not directed and controlled by the LTTE. TRO, international NGOs and UN Agencies must report to the LTTE as the de facto governing authority in parts of Sri Lanka and must request permission to operate, in the same way as they must report and request permission of the GoSL in GoSL controlled areas of the country. Additionally, these NGOs & CBOs, TRO included, must also report to the GoSL Government Agent (GA) and the relevant GoSL Ministries in Colombo.

 

 

The US Treasury Dept also claims that, "Recent information indicates that the LTTE has ordered international NGOs operating in its territory to provide all project funding through local NGOs, which are managed collectively by the TRO. This arrangement allows TRO to withdraw money from the local NGO accounts and to provide a portion of the relief funds to the LTTE. The LTTE has reportedly exerted pressure to comply on a few international NGOs that have resisted these arrangements."

 

This allegation is also without any merit. International NGOs and UN agencies work with GoSL departments and with the GA and all projects and work, including beneficiary selection, go through the Rural Development Society (RDS) and the Women's RDS and are undersigned by the Grama Sevaka (GoSL local Govt representative) and Assistant Government Agent (AGA).

 

The accusations that TRO collectively manages local NGOs and withdraws funds from local NGO accounts also are false. The NGO consortium coordinates all NGOs and Community Based Organizations (CBOs). TRO never "withdraws" or otherwise takes any funds from local NGOs and, in fact, in many cases actually provides funds and gives capacity building to many NGOs and CBOs. In fact, TRO is the leading provider of capacity building to local NGOs and CBOs in the Vanni. In 2004 and 2005 TRO spent Rs. 50 million (US$ 452,857) for capacity building and micro finance projects for local NGOs and CBOs. TRO also provided an additional Rs. 48 million (US$ 434,743) in 2005 to Fisheries Cooperative Societies and Unions for infrastructure development in the Jaffna, Trincomalee, Batticaloa, and Amparai GoSL controlled areas. TRO has also provided capacity development for government institutions and cooperatives and the private sector.

 

TRO will continue work to support the tsunami and war affected populations of the NorthEast and urges the Tamil Diaspora and wider international humanitarian community to put pressure on the international community to end the violations of International Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law by the Government of Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka’s main opposition United National party (UNP) has welcomed the government’s decision to ban the Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), the Daily Mirror reported Friday. The UNP echoed the stance of the ultra-Sinhala nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Perumana (JVP) with senior UNP official, Lakshman Kiriella, also telling a news conference that the government had failed to pursue the matter with commitment. Earlier this week, there was applause in Sri Lanka’s parliament as the government promised to consider banning the TRO and also the LTTE

 

Mr. Kiriella also claimed the decision by the government of Mahinda Rajapakse to ban the charity followed a TRO member confessing in USA that some funds were given to the Tamil Tigers by the organization.

 

Earlier this week the JVP had called for the banning of the TRO.

 

JVP parliamentary group leader Wimal Weerawansa called for the LTTE also to be banned.

 

“The two organizations are not banned in Sri Lanka. Both are functioning in Sri Lanka in accordance with the law,” he is reported to have said in parliament.

 

Mr. Weerawansa also protested that former President Chandrika Kumaratunga, Rajapakse’s predecessor, had commended TRO and given it an award for its post-tsunami reconstruction work.

 

Agreeing with Mr. Weerawansa, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said that there is indeed a question as to why the two organizations are not banned in the country.

 

The government would look into this, he promised, to applause from the House, the website Lankadissent.com reported.

 

Two days later, the government banned the TRO.

 

The government’s move was encouraged by the United States which a few days earlier also banned the TRO, accusing it of being a front for the LTTE.

The United States last week moved to freeze the US-held assets of the largest Tamil charity, the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO), accusing it of acting as a front to facilitate fundraising and procurement for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

 

The TRO, the largest local Non Governmental Organisation assisting the Tamil population in Sri Lanka’s Northeast, vigorously protested the action by the US Treasury, pointing out that no wrong doing, misappropriation or misuse of funds have been pointed out in its widespread engagement with other NGOs, local and international.

 

The TRO said the US action would increase the misery of the Tamil people living under Sri Lankan government embargo in the island’s Northeast.

 

“One wonders what the goal of the US Government is since no proof of any wrongdoing has been presented that casts doubts on the work of TRO,” the charity said.

 

“TRO is one of only a few organizations functioning in parts of the NorthEast and the actions of the US Government will lead to further suffering for the Tamil people.”

 

“The US Government currently does not provide any humanitarian relief to those in LTTE controlled areas and with the recent actions inevitably supports the GoSL's campaign to limit assistance to the Tamil people,” the TRO said.

 

Defending the action by the US Treasury, the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Robert Blake, said the action was intended to send a message to the LTTE that now is the time to negotiate.

 

His government`s action was directed at the LTTE and not the Tamil people, Mr. Blake said.

 

The US designated the LTTE as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation in 1997 making it a crime for US citizens to provide material support or resources to the Tigers’ struggle.

 

Sri Lanka’s Sinhala nationalist government, which is blamed for thousands of extrajudicial killings and disappearances since 2005 praised the US for taking action against Tamil charity and urged other countries to follow suit.

 

The US Embassy in Colombo issued a press release on Thursday, November 18 announcing the decision of the US Department of the Treasury to freeze US-held assets of the Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), which won a presidential award in 2005 for building 3,240 temporary shelters following the Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004.

 

“The Tamils Rehabilitation Organization was designated today under Executive Order 13224, which is aimed at financially isolating terrorist groups and their support networks,” said the press release.

 

“E.O. 13224 freezes any assets held by designees under US jurisdiction and prohibits US persons from transacting with designees.”

 

The statement claimed that the TRO had raised funds on behalf of the LTTE through a network of individual representatives and according to sources within the organization, the TRO is the preferred conduit of funds from the United States to the LTTE in Sri Lanka.

 

It also charged TRO of facilitating LTTE procurement operations in the United States.

 

Speaking to the media last Friday at the American Centre in Colombo, US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Robert Blake said “These are serious charges. It is on this basis the Treasury designated the TRO. This not only blocks illicit assets but its other assets in the US as well. The freeze was following information based on some earlier arrests.”

 

He further added that the growing international efforts to cut off money flowing to the LTTE would make it increasingly difficult for them "to import arms and other things to carry on their armed struggle."

 

"The larger purpose of all our activities is to send a message to the LTTE that now is the time to negotiate,"

 

“Now is the time for the LTTE to renounce violence and to renounce terrorism," he added.

 

"The lesson for the LTTE is that they are never going to get a better deal and now is the time to try to negotiate".

 

However he did not elaborate on what deal was on offer for the Tamils, as Sri Lankan has failed to come up with any power sharing proposal since the signing of a ceasefire in February 2002.

 

Mr. Blake also repeated his customary request to the Sri Lankan government to share political power with Tamils.

 

Mr Blake also did not say what actions United States would take to pressure the Sri Lankan government to put forward a power sharing proposal, which earlier this month killed the chief negotiator of the LTTE, Brig. S.P Thamilselvan and has unveiled a war budget with the stated intention of escalating the conflict. 

 

 

 

Reacting to the announcement of the asset freeze, Sri Lankan Foreign Affairs Minister Rohitha Bogollagama made a special statement to the parliament praising the US for cracking down on funding sources for the LTTE.

 

“I have emphasised the damage done by this organisation particularly in the US and we have provided evidence that lends credence to our concerns,” he said.

 

“It is in this context, that I wish to place on record the deep appreciation of the government of Sri Lanka and this entire House, to the US Administration especially the Treasury Department, for the speedy investigation carried out and for the action taken against the TRO.”

 

Mr. Bogollagama told parliament that Sri Lanka could now expect a significant decline in the collections of the LTTE which he insisted ranged from $20-30 million per month world wide.

 

The minister warned that eternal vigilance was necessary because the LTTE had become an expert in circumventing curbs and bans.

 

Sri Lanka’s largest political party has condemned the US action to freeze the US-based accounts of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) saying Washington was deepening the plight of the Tamil people.

 

“While the Government of Sri Lanka has imposed an effective economic embargo in Vanni, and the sustained bombardments of Sri Lanka Military have made situation difficult for International Non-Governmental Organizations to work amidst the affected local residents in border villages of Tamil areas,” said Kajendran, parliamentarian from the Tamil National Alliance

 

“The United States has made the situation worse for the Tamil people, internally displaced and reeling under economic hardship, by stopping the humanitarian aid from the branches world-wide of the TRO," he said.

 

"More than 300,000 Tamils have been internally displaced by the offensives by Sri Lanka armed forces. TRO, the only organization capable of providing the day-to-day support for the most vulnerable IDPs will now be debilitated with scarcity of funds.”

 

“Preschools, children homes, aged-people homes, livelihood beneficiaries, including tsunami beneficiaries will be affected by the ban.”

 

“Further, this action will be considered by the Sri Lanka Government as tacit support to the military approach, and will further encourage Colombo's military pursuits," the MP said.

 

Meanwhile, Suresh Premachandran, a senior parliamentarian of the TNA from Jaffna described as "contradictory" American ambassador Robert Blake's observation that the US treasury freeze of funds of TRO, a pro-LTTE front, was not against the Tamil people in Sri Lanka but against terrorism.

 

"It should be noted that US ambassador Robert Blake on Friday stated that the LTTE should return to the negotiating table, thereby recognising that it is the representative of the Tamil People in Sri Lanka," Premachandran said.

 

Mr Kajendran said that without a balanced approach to peace by the International Community, with an understanding of the Tamil peoples right to self-determination, Tamils are unlikely to be convinced by assertions of support to peace by the International Community.

The path is long, my friends, and we have lost another companion.

 

A companion who walked besides us as he showed us the way forward. A companion who knew the ugliness of war and sought out an alternative path. A companion who told the world of our struggle even as they turned their backs on us.

 

Even as he walked with us there was no way of knowing how dear he was to the Tamil people or how crucial he was to our struggle. And there was none of the arrogance which comes with power. None of the distance which comes with authority. None of the coldness which comes with importance. Just a smile. A warm open smile which made you comfortable enough to speak your mind, to question, to criticize. A smile that we all see today when we close our eyes.

 

Behind that almost child like smile was a razor sharp mind that understood the path to freedom was long and dangerous. Behind that smile was a man strong enough to be humble; wise enough to seek the counsel of others. A man so sure of our cause that he was willing to negotiate with an enemy who ultimately took his life.

 

The path is long and lonely, my friends.

 

Thamilchelvan Anna understood better that many that we need many companions to reach our destination. As a young diaspora Tamil who was not fully accepting of the struggle, it was refreshing to meet a man secure enough in his own beliefs to allow them to be questioned. Although he had never been to the West when I met first him in 2002, I was surprised by how well he understood that young Tamils in the diaspora would have many questions about the struggle and the movement, and was willing to answer even the most trivial questions.

 

For some time now we have had two paths in front of us: the path of peace and the path of war. Our nation sent Thamilchelvan Anna down the path of peace. A path that was opened to us by the sacrifice of many lives. We sent him ahead and waited with bated breath; waiting for him to give us the all clear; waiting for him to tell is it was okay to move forward.

 

When a warrior comes to talk peace surely that must have a special significance? He has seen the ugliness of war first hand; he has seen comrades fall in the red soil of our homeland; he has seen parents grieve for dead children; he has seen our people driven like animals into the jungles. When a man who knows the loss of war sits across the table from you and offers a way to bring peace to the island - do you talk with him or silence him forever?

 

We sent Thamilchelvan Anna and we waited.

 

We waited hoping against hope that this path would lead us to freedom. Lead us to a life of dignity and security. Lead us to lives filled with laughter and joy.

 

But this path has led us only to misery and tears of loss. This path led us to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Tamils. This path led to daily killings and disappearances of Tamils across the island. This path led us to the assassination of Kausalian, Joseph Pararajasingam, Raviraj and now Thamilchelvan Anna and the five others who died at his side.

 

The Sinhala people have shown us that they are unwilling to walk down this path.

 

Despite all this we have been patient; our leaders have shown restraint in the face of provocation. Even as death rained down upon our people our leaders have kept the path to peace open. Now they have taken our messenger of peace. A messenger that went forward with the blessing of our people and our leadership. When our messenger is taken from us, the message is clear: the road to peace is closed.

 

My friends, we walk alone to our freedom. We are all tired for the journey has been long and we have lost many companions along the way. Many of us have lost flesh and blood; many of us have lost house and home; some of us have lost identity and self.

 

It is tempting to say enough. It is tempting to say I will walk no more. I must rest. It is tempting to lose hope, to fear where this road will lead us. This is what they want from us. They want us to forsake our revolution; to give up our dream.

 

Now is not the time, my friends. As long as we have the will and means to resist those who seek to oppress us we must stay the path to freedom.

 

We must show the world they may kill the revolutionary but the revolution will come. They may kill the dreamer but our dream will be realized.

 

We have lost another companion. But in his name we walk on. In his memory and the memory of so many others we remain strong.

 

Freedom will come one day. United as a people, we will reach that goal. Thamilchelvan Anna knew this. That is why he was always smiling.

"We tried our best to convince the International Community of our grievances. We are a small nation, struggling all alone to uphold our rights. But the International Community in an uneven judgement in applying its norms, scaled us with Sri Lankan government abounding with military and economic resources. The scale was not fair. The price we paid for the International Injustice is the life of Thamilchelvan," said Poddu Ammaan, the intelligence wing chief of the Liberation Tigers, in the obituary address of the funeral of Brigadier S.P. Thamilchelvan held in Ki'linochchi on Nov 5, 2007.

 

Narrating his close association with Thamilchelvan in his early days in the LTTE, Poddu Ammaan recollected events of exemplary bravery and leadership, shown by Thamilchelvan during IPKF times and the first Elephant Pass (EPS) operation.

 

However, he continued, "many of us were not aware of the inherent political abilities hidden in him, but our leader Pirapaharan rightly identified them."

 

"Our leader always use to say that fear comes from attachment to life. One who is fearless to sacrifice his own life to the welfare of people can only become a political leader. Thamilchelvan was one such."

 

"What is the payback for the killing of Thamilchelvan, many ask us."

 

"A few Sri Lankan soldiers, perhaps thousands, or a few Sinhala leaders cannot match the price for Thamilchelvan."

 

"The relentless effort to achieve Thamizh Eezham is the price. The Sinhala nation should realise that we will never stop in this effort."

 

In his address, Poddu Ammaan revealed that the LTTE came to know through subtle briefings of Norway, that the Sri Lankan government blocked Thamilchelvan's mother and siblings, living abroad, from attending the funeral.

Reacting defiantly to decisions by Sri Lanka and the United States to ban it, the leading Tamil charity in the island, the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation, vowed to continue its founding mission to help the victims of the Sinhala government’s military campaign and called on Tamils around the world to support its work.

 

“We assure you that our mission will continue in our homeland areas without interruption and we call on the international community and the Tamil Diaspora to continue to support our work with war and tsunami affected persons,” the TRO said.

 

Both the United States and Sri Lanka claimed the TRO was a front for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

 

However, neither country has offered proof or ever charged the TRO or one of its workers with assisting the LTTE.

 

“One wonders what the goal of the US Government is since no proof of any wrongdoing has been presented that casts doubts on the work of TRO,” the charity said.

 

“The US Government currently does not provide any humanitarian relief to those in LTTE controlled areas and with the recent actions inevitably supports the GoSL's campaign to limit assistance to the Tamil people,” the TRO said.

 

The TRO said the Sri Lankan ban was a culmination of a campaign of harassment and violence against the charity and its staff carried out by the Rajapakse regime.

 

Last year the Sri Lankan government froze the TRO’s accounts. In January 2006 paramilitary groups, known to be working with and under the direction of the GoSL, abducted, raped, tortured and killed 7 TRO humanitarian workers.

 

The TRO, which has been the largest - and for long periods the sole - NGO assisting the hundreds of thousands of Tamils displaced by the conflict, said “with the banning of the TRO the final nail in the coffin of the peace process has been hammered home.”

 

Meanwhile the main Sinhala opposition parties, the United National Party (UNP) and the ultra-nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Perumana (JVP) hailed the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led regime’s decision.

 

The TRO said it was being banned with the “ulterior motive of unleashing untold hardships on the Tamil people as part of [the Sri Lankan government’s] continuing discrimination and oppression of the Tamil people.”

European Union countries urged the breakaway Serbian province of Kosovo on Monday not to rush into a declaration of independence, but seek consensus in the international community.

 

But the Serbian government is preparing for a declaration of independence by Kosovo in case talks on the province's future fail to reach a compromise.

 

The southern province is formally part of Serbia, but it has been run by the United Nations and NATO since a 1999 war.

 

Kosovo's ethnic Albanians, who make up 90% of the population of the province, insist on independence.

 

Former guerrilla Hashim Thaci, expected to become prime minister of the majority ethnic Albanian province after recent elections, said parliament would declare independence after a December 10 deadline for international mediation efforts.

 

Thaci is the former leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army, which led an armed struggle in the 1990s against Serbian dominance of the region.

 

If he and other Kosovar leaders declare independence from Serbia — as they are expected to do by January — he will be the first Premier of the newly sovereign state.

 

Since 2006, the United Nations, which has administered the province since NATO planes drove Serb authorities out of the territory in 1999, has tried to broker a deal in which Kosovo would be granted independence with the consent of Serbia and the rest of the international community.

 

But Serbia, backed by Russia, torpedoed the plan.

 

European and American diplomats have been working hard over the past six months to see if there is middle ground that would allow for Kosovo to split amicably from Serbia, but Belgrade remains adamant that losing Kosovo, which most Serbs view as an ancestral homeland, is out of the question.

 

In an interview with TIME magazine, Thaci brushed off fears that the announcement could destabilize the region.

 

"The time for war is past, " he said. There was, he insisted, no need for further delay: "For me, Kosovo's independence is a done deal. We've waited long enough."

 

The United States firmly backs independence for Kosovo, a move that Russia has blocked in the U.N. Security Council.

 

The EU is divided, but British Europe Minister Jim Murphy said after talks among EU ministers that "well above 20" EU states supported recognizing Kosovo's independence.

 

"Kosovo should have her independence (but) it shouldn't be an unmanaged unilateral declaration. It should be one that is coordinated with the international community," he said.

 

"There is a very big EU majority already for recognition ... certainly well above 20, but we haven't got to 27 yet," Murphy said.

 

Murphy added that it was up to individual states to recognise another state.

 

"But in terms of managing this process, it's a much better outcome for everyone involved if there's maximum international unity," he said.

 

Several states neighboring the Balkans plus Germany and Spain have been most hesitant to back a unilateral declaration.

 

German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier told reporters an agreed solution was better for everyone, including Russia, than a unilateral declaration only partially recognised.

 

Wolfgang Ischinger, the German diplomat leading mediation alongside U.S. and Russian officials, is due to meet Serb and Kosovo Albanian leaders in Brussels on Tuesday.

 

Few participants hold out much hope for a breakthrough. A mass boycott of Saturday's parliamentary elections by Kosovo Serbs -- in protest against the wide support for independence among Kosovo Albanian politicians -- underlined the divide.

 

Portugal's Foreign Minister Luis Amado told a news conference Ischinger would discuss an interim deal with the two sides that ignored the issue of independence.

 

Such a "status-neutral" agreement would try to regulate relations between Pristina and Belgrade without pre-judging any future move to decide Kosovo's final status.

 

But a diplomat from an EU state in favor of Kosovo independence said that idea was unworkable because Belgrade and Moscow would only agree to it if EU states guaranteed not to recognize a unilateral declaration.

 

Ischinger told a breakfast conference mediators had explored nearly every known option to settle the Kosovo issue.

 

"Regardless of how exactly this process will end... it is clear no one will be able to say that this was not a meaningful and intense and working negotiating process."

 

Asked what would happen if there was no deal by December 10, Amado said: "We will be here and the world will not finish. We will need to evaluate the situation and take decisions."

 

Serbia has offered broad autonomy, but the Kosovo Albanians say they will accept nothing less than independence. Western diplomats are concerned that the Serbs and their Russian allies will declare the mediation process a sham after it finishes.

 

Before leaving for the Brussels talks, Thaci was asked about the concerns some EU ministers had expressed over his promise of a speedy declaration of independence, and qualified his remarks.

 

"The declaration of independence will come in coordination with the United States and the European Union," he said.

 

The EU wants to avoid a repeat of its dilemma in the 1990s, when internal splits over how to deal with the Balkan wars showed its ineffectiveness as a foreign policy player.

 

Separately on Monday, EU defense ministers agreed to maintain at 2,500 the EU military presence in Bosnia where tensions over Kosovo are exacerbating a dispute among Serb, Muslim and Croat factions. A statement from the foreign ministers expressed "grave concern" about the situation.

 

"As a responsible government, since there are indications that a number of countries would recognize an independent Kosovo, we have to be ready for the darkest scenario," said the deputy prime minister Bozidar Djelic.

 

Djelic gave no details, saying only that each government ministry is tasked with drafting a plan to be implemented in case Kosovo unilaterally declares independence from Serbia.

 

The Liberation Tigers Friday said they had repulsed two offensives by Sri Lankan security forces in Mannar district, in northern Sri Lanka, inflicting heavy casualties.

 

At least 25 Sri Lankan Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and more than 60 wounded when LTTE forces confronted the ground troops of the SLA on two fronts, at Palaikkuzhi and at the bund of Kaddukkarai Kulam, LTTE officials told media in Vanni.

 

 

LTTE field officials reported losing seven fighters in the clashes and said a dead body of a SLA soldier, four T-56 assault rifles, thirty-two magazines, four RPG shells, four propellers, PK-LMG rounds numbering 2595, four drum magazines, nine bullet-proof jackets, eight holsters, nine helmets and four box containers for PK-LMG rounds and two hand grenades were recovered in the clearing mission following hasty retrieval by the after sustaining heavy casualties.

 

The Sri Lankan military put their casualty figures at 3 killed and 32 wounded. The Tigers arranged to hand over the dead body of a SLA soldier through the ICRC.

 

Murungkan Police has handed over 3 dead bodies of LTTE female cadres to Mannar hospital, according to local reports.

Sri Lankan forces in Murungkan, Uyilangkulam, Vangkaalai, South Bar and Thallaadi military bases, directed heavy artillery barrages towards LTTE administered Vanni for most of Thursday.

 

All the SLA and Special Task Force troopers, heavily deployed along the Mannnaar Madawaachi road in recent days, had opened fire from their positions in Murungkan area, police sources said, alluding that the LTTE had launched a preemptive strike as the Sri Lankan army was readying for a ground offensive following an intensive artillery attack.

The death of the Tamil Tigers' political head and chief negotiator in a Sri Lankan air force bombing raid confirms that the island is back in the grip of a full-blooded civil war.

 

Seen as clever and wily, S P Tamilselvan was the 43-year-old public face of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the group fighting for a separate state for Sri Lanka's 3 million Tamils. His death in an air strike at 6am (12.30am GMT) was confirmed by the LTTE on their website.

 

Tamilselvan was a key figure. Although the US, Britain and India all describe the Tamil Tigers as a terrorist organisation, he had hosted diplomats in the organisation's "peace secretariat" in the jungles of northern Sri Lanka. A soldier as well as a thinker, Tamilselvan was injured twice in battle and walked with a stick into press conferences.

 

However there will be few tears shed in Colombo - Sri Lanka's president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, is undoubtedly delighted with the decapitation strategy. His brother, the defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, said the Sri Lankan air force would pick off the rest of the Tigers' leaders "one by one".

 

Such talk merely underlines the depths to which Sri Lanka has sunk. The tear-shaped island, no bigger than Ireland, is wracked by war: human rights abuses, torture, abductions and extrajudicial murders have mushroomed as the fighting intensifies.

 

However the loss of Tamilselvan is unlikely to unnerve the Tigers' elusive leader Velupillai Pirapaharan. He has waged war on the state for more than two decades and has watched countless friends and allies die on and off the battlefield. The word from those on the ground is that there is already another leader filling Tamilselvan's shoes.

 

For Pirapaharan the short-term loss of friends and comrades pales next to prize of a homeland for the Tamil people. More than 70,000 have lost their lives in the conflict on the Indian Ocean island.

 

In many ways both sides are committed to a military strategy. The president has made it clear that a political solution would be impossible without first crushing the LTTE, something the Sri Lankan defence ministry has said can be achieved in just two years.

 

The Tigers too appear to want war. By most analysts' reckoning, they used the four years since a 2002 ceasefire to rearm and rebuild their military base.

 

The last peace talks in October 2006 were overshadowed by fierce fighting that displaced 200,000 people. That was followed by a government push into the east, rolling back the Tigers into the forests of central Sri Lanka. However the military have been unable to penetrate the Tiger's key bases, which have been heavily mined. The result has been a reliance on airstrikes.

 

In many ways the death of Tamilselvan was the government's attempt to even the score with the LTTE who scored a propaganda coup with a devastating attack on an airbase two weeks ago.

 

The ball is now again in the Tiger's jungle court. Later this month Pirapaharan will take to the airwaves for the Tigers' annual "heroes day" speech. For the next few weeks, Sri Lanka will be braced for the LTTE’s deadly reply.

 

 

A top United Nations official last week charged the Sri Lankan government with inability to rein in "widespread torture practised by security forces" against the Tamil population in the island.

 

But under pressure from the Sri Lankan government, which dismissed the reports saying it adopts a "zero-tolerance" policy on torture, he backed off, following in the footsteps of other international observers who have backed down in the face of the government’s aggression.

 

There is evidence that beatings, asphyxiations and burning are widely practiced by Sri Lankan security forces and use of torture is becoming routine during counter-terrorism operations, Manfred Novak, UN special rapportuer on Torture for the Human Rights Council, told the UN General Assembly committee dealing with social, humanitarian and cultural issues, known as the Third Committee.

 

However, Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe dismissed the UN official's comments, saying such conclusions did not figure in Nowak's preliminary findings.

 

"The Ministry of Human Rights strongly refutes any such conclusions which did not find any place in Novak's preliminary findings," he said.

On being challenged by Sri Lanka, Novak backed off – telling an interviewer “I should also say that notwithstanding the serious situation of armed conflict, Sri Lanka is a country that has managed to uphold an independent judiciary and a democratic system.”

 

“I should add that in many other countries that I have visited, there's real impunity that nobody has ever been brought to justice for torture. This is not the case in Sri Lanka; so much is done, has been done and the government by inviting me also proved that it's willing to cooperate with the United Nations and to further improve the situation,” he told Radio Australia – see transcript below.

 

"The high number of indictments for torture filed by the Attorney General's Office, the number of successful fundamental rights cases decided by the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, as well as the high number of complaints that the National Human Rights Commission continues to receive on an almost daily basis indicates that torture is widely practiced in Sri Lanka," Novak said.

 

He made this observation along with a list of recommendations following a week-long visit to Sri Lanka in early October. The UN official urged the international community to assist Sri Lanka follow up on the recommendations.

During discussions with officials, Novak said that the use of torture was not systematic in Sri Lanka, Samarasinghe was quoted by AFP as saying.

 

"At the meeting, Mr. Novak made it clear that his usage of the term 'widely practised' was in reference to instances of alleged torture that he witnesses in diverse locations ... that such alleged instances did not relate exclusively or predominantly to the conflict or conflict-affected areas," AFP said quoting Samarasinghe.

 

Samarasinghe maintained that Sri Lanka had adopted a "zero-tolerance" policy on torture and is closely studying Novak's preliminary recommendations with a view to strengthening local institutional and legal frameworks.