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  • Despite wide spread evidence of torture, Novak finds Sri Lanka has

    Nov 06
    Following is the transcript of an interview by Linda Lopresti of Radio Australia with Manfred Novak, UN Special Rapportuer on Torture for the Human Rights Council, following his recent visit to Sri Lanka.

    NOWAK: First I should say that I was invited by the government, and I had the full cooperation of the government, but they did not want me to go to the LTTE area. So it means that I focussed more on the general criminal justice system and I went to all kind of prisons, pre-trial detention centres, and police lockups and I heard many allegations and they had a forensic doctor who also corroborated that evidence. But most of the evidence that I found was in relation to the terrorist investigation department, so that means against suspected LTTE persons.

    LOPRESTI: And those that alleged they were being tortured, were being tortured by security forces?

    NOWAK: They were both tortured according to their allegations by the army, but also by the police and the terrorism investigation department people themselves, whether it was at the headquarters of the terrorist investigation department, or also the criminal investigation department in Colombo, or in the detention facility in Pusar itself.

    LOPRESTI: And what kind of methods are being used?

    NOWAK: Mostly it is beatings, but various forms of beatings, but then suspension or what we sometimes call Palestinian hangings, so that you are suspended with your hands cuffed behind your back. In two cases, we also found torture methods which I have never seen before, which is that people have been suspended on their thumbs, that creates very, very strong pain and people then of course also were unconscious. These were allegations against the army.

    LOPRESTI: Has the kind of torture worsened or is it more common, given that as far back as 1999, Amnesty International were saying that torture is among the most common human rights violations reported in Sri Lanka?

    NOWAK: I mean torture has a long history in Sri Lanka, but after the ceasefire agreement with the LTTE, the situation certainly improved and in recent years, in particular under the present government and again under the emergency regulations you can detain persons up to one year by the police, so without being under pre-trial detention. And most of the persons whom we found had credible allegations of torture and those also that were cooperating for medical evidence. Those were persons held for a prolonged period of time under these detention orders.

    LOPRESTI: But Sri Lanka does have measures in place to prevent torture. In 1994, the government in-acted the torture act, so is it your view that the law is not being upheld here?

    NOWAK: No, 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. So the 1994 act is a very good example that torture was criminalised and we have quite a few cases where the Attorney-General indicted police officers or other persons for torture, but we have only had three convictions in those 13 years.

    One of the reasons might be that the minimum sentence is very severe. It's seven years and that might be a disincentive for judges not to actually convict a person of torture. But 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.

    LOPRESTI: Yet earlier in October, Sri Lanka actually rejected demands for international monitoring of human rights in the country, after UN human rights chief Louise Arbour warned of a disturbing lack of investigation into reports of killings and abductions?

    NOWAK: That is unfortunate. Louise Arbour and I made the same recommendation. It's my experience if the high commissioner of human rights establishes an office in a country, which has opposed monitoring and human rights cooperation functions, that usually improves the situation. I know that the government is in the course of establishing further domestic bodies for such monitoring. But, of course, international monitoring is always more effective unless you have really independent domestic bodies. So we also propose that a more independent national preventive mechanism should be established with the right to carry out unannounced visits to all places of detention. That is a very strong preventative tool.
     
  • How liberated is the east?
    The road leading from Eravur to Batticaloa is deserted. While it is almost sunset, the only life on the streets is that of STF personnel standing guard every few metres and armed Karuna cadres standing outside TMVP offices.
     
    Doors and windows of houses are firmly locked as civilians fear to step out in the dark. Sounds of gun shots continue to echo in Batticaloa throughout the night and although there is no curfew imposed, Batticaloa resembles a ghost town at night.
     
    Although three months ago the government in its 'Rising of the East' celebration rejoiced the liberation of the east, civilians in Batticaloa are yet to experience 'freedom.'
     
    The sound of shells and gun shots continue to echo in the north and south of Batticaloa during the day and night, forcing civilians to leave their homes in search of safer areas.
     
    Increased fear, restricted movement
     
    A fresh wave of fighting between forces loyal to Karuna and Pillayan has increased fear and restricted movement in many areas in Batticaloa, making only the Batticaloa town safe for civilian movement. Civilians residing in the town are forbidden by the STF to leave the area due to continuous confrontations by the Karuna and Pillayan forces.
     
    "We cannot give a security guarantee to anyone leaving Batticaloa town. We do not allow anyone to proceed to other areas. The only way you can go is if there is special clearance from the Defence Ministry after which we will detail two STF personnel to accompany you. Many areas are under threat due to clashes between the Pillayan and Karuna forces," STF personnel on the ground in Batticaloa told The Sunday Leader.
     
    Explaining we were from the media and wanted to travel into Batticaloa north, the STF personnel added that the area was unsafe. Refugees seeking shelter in these areas are also yet to be resettled due to the regular confrontations.
     
    "There are many refugees seeking shelter in Batticaloa north and south. But we are unable to assist them right now due to the confrontations. We cannot risk moving the civilians during an attack. Many areas in Batticaloa are uncleared due to the clashes between the two groups," the STF personnel at the STF Headquarters in Batticaloa said.
     
    While the refugees in Batticaloa town have been resettled, thousands of refugees remain trapped in the uncleared areas. They continue taking refuge in warehouses, schools and temporary camps, according to the STF.
     
    No difference
     
    However despite Batticaloa town being termed as "safe" by the STF, the roads during the day remain no different than in the night as they continue to be relatively deserted. With the town heavily guarded by the STF, civilians say they fear to walk on the streets due to continuous checking. There is also the fear of being abducted by various 'groups.'
     
    Civilians also explained that they were imprisoned in their own areas as their every move was being noted by the security forces. With STF personnel standing every few metres, civilians said they had to produce their ID cards at least 10 times if they stepped onto the streets.
     
    The presence of armed Karuna cadres roaming freely in Batticaloa town has done little to minimise the fears. Civilians say that over the past three months, men and children continue to be abducted despite the heavy presence of the STF in Batticaloa.
     
    Shops along the main road in Batticaloa town virtually remain closed, opening for business only for three hours every morning. Over the past six months, several men have been abducted from their shops, driving fear into the trading community.
     
    Children in danger
     
    "We are scared to go to work or let our children out of our sight. When they go to school we have to accompany them. We hear gunshots all the time and this makes it very difficult for us to even walk on the roads. We can come under attack at any time," P. Sivakumar told The Sunday Leader.
     
    An increase in confrontations between the Pillayan and Karuna forces over the last few weeks has once again put Batticaloa in the danger zone. Civilians say it will not be too long before they will have to pack up and move again.
     
    "I have fled Batticaloa thrice with my family and have returned as the government declared it to be liberated. However we are yet to rejoice as we live under threat. Gunshots are heard everyday. The nights are worse," Manmohan Ramakrishna said.
     
    STF personnel at the STF Headquarters said that they do not interfere in the clashes until the confrontations get out of control. They said maximum security is deployed to protect the refugees and civilians.
     
    "We will not interfere unless and until it gets out of control. We have to protect the civilians and refugees and we are doing that. However if the confrontations harm any civilian then the STF will react," STF personnel said.
     
    Low attendance
     
    Attendance in schools is low due to the intermittent violence and the increase in abductions. Although STF personnel are deployed outside each school, parents say that many children have gone missing since last year. Teachers said they have now begun an awareness programme informing parents on the importance of education.
     
    However this has achieved very little results as parents do not let their children out of their homes in fear.
     
    "We cannot blame the parents as we all live under a lot of pressure. Confrontations between the two new factions have made it impossible for all of us to live a normal life. Children are checked and searched by the STF several times a day and as you can see, the town is swarming with the STF, " said Letchmi Kumaraswamy, a teacher attached to Central College, Batticaloa.
     
    "We are forbidden to step into areas beyond the STF Headquarters. Despite the increase in security we still feel unsafe," she said.
     
    Abductions continue
     
    Parents of children who have been abducted said that they were being watched day and night by the security forces and despite several complaints lodged at the Batticaloa Police Station, little has been done.
     
    A parent on the basis of anonymity told The Sunday Leader that his 15 year old son was abducted by six men eight months ago while he was returning home from school and although they have lodged a complaint with the police and the Human Rights Commission, no information regarding his son had been received to date.
     
    The parent said that according to his son's friends who were with him at the time of the abduction, four men in a van and two men in a three wheeler pulled up and forced his son into the van. Two policemen who were standing a few metres away failed to take any action. The van and the three wheeler both had no number plates.
     
    The price of liberation
     
    While this incident occurred before the east was 'liberated,' parents said that although the government has now declared areas such as Batticaloa safe, abductions continued and in fact have increased since July. The recent confrontations between Pillayan and Karuna forces has only made matters worse.
     
    Although the Karuna Group has put Pillayan in charge of its political and financial wings, confrontations between the two groups have continued since Pillayan moved to Trincomalee along with supporters after disagreements with Karuna a few months ago.
     
    Since then men loyal to Karuna and Pillayan have continued to be killed by either group and the continuous confrontation between the two sides have already left many dead, the STF said.
     
    Meanwhile the SLMM said last month that the Karuna faction was concentrating in using its resources in the Batticaloa District after it had closed down four of its five offices in Trincomalee.
     
    "The SLMM registered less activity by the TMVP in Trincomalee, and four of its five offices appeared to have been shut down. The SLMM learned that the TMVP was in the process of concentrating its resources in Batticaloa," the SLMM said.
     
    The SLMM also recorded incidents of armed child cadres from the faction moving in public and not being stopped at check points.
     
  • Rape by Sri Lankan troops resurfaces – in Haiti
    The United Nations has asked Sri Lanka to prosecute ‘to the fullest extent of the law’ 108 Sri Lankan soldiers with the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti for sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of minors, including prostitution, the Sunday Times reported.
     
    The number is one of the biggest single withdrawal of soldiers from a UN peacekeeping mission. During the conflict numerous local and international NGOs protested both frequent rapes by security forces and the climate of impunity in which they occur.
     
    The charges against the Sri Lankan soldiers may include rape (which is constituted a "war crime" in the context of military conflicts) involving children under 18 years of age, the paper said.
     
    The ejection of 108 out of Sri Lanka’s contingent of 950 for sex crimes highlights the frequency of rape during Sri Lankan operation in the Northeast during the decades long conflict.
     
    In 2001, the year before a ceasefire ended the fighting, Amnesty International said it “has noted a marked rise in allegations of rape by [Sri Lankan] police, army and navy personnel.”
     
    “Among the victims of rape by the security forces are many internally displaced women, women who admit being or having been members of the LTTE and female relatives of members or suspected male members of the LTTE,” Amnesty said.
     
    “Reports of rape in custody concern children as young as 14,” Amnesty also said.
     
    Amnesty said “to [our] knowledge, not a single member of the Sri Lankan security forces has been brought to trial in connection to incidents of rape in custody although one successful prosecution has been brought in a case where the victim of rape was also murdered.”
     
    Also in 2001, Amnesty wrote to then Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga, “urging her to take action to stop rape by security forces andbring perpetrators to justice” in response to reports of rape by security forces “in Mannar,Batticaloa,Negombo and Jaffna.”
     
    “To date, no response has been received to the appeal,” Amnesty later said in a special report titled “Sri Lanka: Rape in Custody” which was published in January 2002, just as the Norwegian brokered Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) came into being.
     
    Earlier, in March 2000, the then United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women, Radhika Coomaraswamy, expressed her “grave concern” over the lack of serious investigation into allegations of gang rape and murder of women and girls by the Sri Lankan security forces.
     
    In 2000, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) protested that “Sri Lankan security forces are using systematic rape and murder of Tamil women to subjugate the Tamil population... Impunity continues to reign as rape is used as a weapon of war in Sri Lanka.”
     
    Apart from the ejection of 108 Sri Lankan troops from Haiti, the actions Colombo takes against them would also determine whether the UN will deploy Sri Lankan soldiers in future peacekeeping operations, the Sunday Times said.
     
    A UN source told the paper that the Department of Peacekeeping Operations would monitor what action the government proposed to take against the 108 soldiers who were part of a 950-member contingent from Sri Lanka.
     
    "If they are found guilty, they should be punished for their crimes under the criminal justice system in the country," he said.
     
    The UN would be very unhappy, he said, if only administrative and disciplinary actions were taken against the soldiers.
     
    Asked how many soldiers would be repatriated, UN spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters Friday that all 108 soldiers would be repatriated on disciplinary grounds.
     
    The total number is one of the biggest single withdrawal of soldiers from a UN peacekeeping mission.
     
    Asked about the nature of the charges, a UN spokeswoman said the allegations were against members of the Sri Lankan battalion stationed in a variety of locations in Haiti, and were of a "transactional sex" nature.
     
    She also acknowledged that they involved prostitution, including in some cases with minors.
     
    In its 1999 annual report, Amnesty International, said rape of female detainees was used amongst a range of torture methods.
     
    In a statement to the UN in 1998, the World Organisation against Torture observed: “Sri Lankan soldiers have raped both women and young girls on a massive scale, and often with impunity, since reporting often leads to reprisals against the victims and their families.”
     
    “The consistent policy of rape and violence against Tamil women that we have documented for many years is a fundamental military tactic of the Sri Lankan forces,” International Educational Development, an NGO, also told the UN that year.
     
    Human rights NGOs have frequently protested the impunity Sri Lankan soldiers enjoy regarding rapes and other abuses.
     
    “Only one of the thousands of rapes which have been reported, has resulted in a conviction,” Pax Romana said.
     
    “There also seems to be little point to expect justice on the basis of the constitution since the constitution itself provides the mechanisms and justifications for the commission of these war crimes and encourages impunity.”
     
  • Rights group wants paramilitary commander charged in UK
    Britain should look at trying a Sri Lankan paramilitary commander, arrested Friday for using forged documents, for war crimes, a human rights organisation has urged.
     
    Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna, was arrested in Britain Friday for using a forged travel document.
     
    He had been travelling on a Sri Lankan diplomatic passport, with valid visas issued by the Colombo embassies of various European governments, sources told the Tamil Guardian.
     
    The passport was said to be in a false name, leading to his arrest. However, Karuna had been allowed into Britain on that false passport, a source noted.
     
    Britain’s Home Office confirmed the head of the paramilitary Karuna Group was being held in immigration detention.
     
    "Karuna Amman has been arrested following a joint operation between the Border and Immigration Agency and the Metropolitan Police," the Home Office said in a statement to AFP.
     
    "He is now being held in immigration detention it would not be appropriate to comment further."
     
    The paramilitary commander is accused by rights experts of child soldier recruitment, extortion and torture.
     
    "Give the magnitude of Karuna''s crimes over the years, including attacks on civilians and use of child soldiers, Human Rights Watch strongly urges the UK government to explore the possibility of prosecuting him for war crimes and other international offences before returning him to Sri Lanka," Human Rights Watch senior legal adviser Jim Ross told Reuters.
     
    Britain is a signatory to the International Criminal Court, which has charged a Congolese rebel with child recruitment, but Sri Lanka is not and the court is not investigating the conflict in the island.
     
    Ross said he was unsure if Karuna could be charged under UK law.
     
    Following his expulsion from the LTTE in March 2004 for misappropriation of finances, Karuna was armed by the Sri Lankan state to work alongside the Sri Lankan security forces, in fighting the LTTE.
     
    Operating a paramilitary group in the eastern province, Karuna terrorized Tamils and Muslims and was involved in child soldier recruitment, extortion, abduction, torture and torture.
     
    Sri Lanka too is accused of widespread human rights violations and analysts say Karuna was used by the government as they cleared mainstream Tiger forces from the east this year.
     
    Rights groups say troops and police did nothing to stop his fighters carrying out killings and extortion and taking children to fight.
     
    Earlier this year Karuna was sacked from the paramilitary group and quasi-political party he founded in 2004, the Tamileela Makkal Viduthlai Puligal (TMVP).
     
    In October reports said he was removed from the party’s Working Committee for financial irregularities. His main accusers were a rival faction led by Chandrakanthan alias Pillaiyaan.
     
    Pillaiyaan's group had been complaining that Karuna was keeping 70% of the money collected from the people for his private use, and giving only 30% to the TMVP.
  • Sacrifice, death and national vision
    There is such a high premium placed on the Tamil nationalist struggle, human sacrifice is unimaginable. The loss of Tamil cadres, fighters and leaders in the past indicates that such sacrifices are unavoidable in the quest of national liberation.
     
    The killings of Tamil Chelvan, LTTE’s political wing head, and his five of his colleagues once against demonstrate that the high premium paid by Tamils for national salvation and dignity.
     
    National liberation movements are built and sustained on the basis of collective solidarity and vision. While individual leaders are important, there is, however, a general acceptance of the necessity of supreme sacrifice.
     
    This would explain why national liberation movements do not falter when certain individual leaders are killed or maimed in conflicts. On the contrary, history of liberation movements has shown that death of leaders do not necessarily constrain movements from achieving their political goals.
     
    However, no movement willingly sacrifices its leaders or cadres. Sacrifice, death and injuries are often sustained in the collective struggle for a national good. No sacrifice is bigger than the goals of acquiring freedom from oppression and servitude.
     
    In this respect, LTTE is no different from liberation movements like the African National Congress, Irish Republican Army, Free Aceh Movement, Free Papua Movement and many others.
     
    Tamils in the island called Sri Lanka have made huge sacrifices in the pursuit of freeing themselves from the oppression of the majoritarian Sinhala state. The movement to liberate Tamils from the oppression of the Sinhala majority is under the leadership of the LTTE.
     
    While the LTTE shares many features with other liberation movements, however, it is different in the sense it is the most determined movement to seek a separate state for Tamils in the northeast of Sri Lanka—area of historical Tamil habitation and control.
     
    However, the determination of the LTTE to push for a separate state is not something devised by it alone. The inability of the Sinhala state to conceptualize and understand the sentiments of Tamils, the continued military occupation of Tamil areas, the slow but sure attempt to colonize Tamil areas by Sinhalese, the difficulty posed by the international community and the opportunistic role played by India have left the LTTE with no option.
     
    Under these difficult domestic and international circumstances, the LTTE is forced to rely on the strength of Tamils in the northeast of Sri Lanka and the support from the Tamil Diaspora to pursue the option of Tamil Eelam—a futuristic Tamil nation.
     
    In comparison with other affected peoples, Tamils have put up with tremendous difficulty as result of the hardship imposed by the ruthless majoritarian Sinhala state.
     
    In recent years, as result of the breakdown of ceasefire brokered by the Norwegians in February 2002, hundreds and thousands of Tamils have been displaced from their homes, hundreds have been abducted and killed by the combined forces of the Sri Lankan armed force and Tamil para-militaries and most importantly, sections of Tamils population have been denied food and other essentials by the Sri Lankan armed forces in the name of defeating the LTTE.
     
    The suffering and humiliation of Tamils is something of a great worry and concern to the LTTE. While it is able to protect Tamils in areas under its control, it cannot do the same where the army is in control.
     
    While the Sri Lankan armed forces have been beefed up with military supplies from the international community, the LTTE as a non-state actor has to rely on itself to acquire arms and ammunition to fend off attacks from the armed forces of the state.
     
    In recent years, as result of the assistance rendered by countries like Pakistan and Israel, the Sri Lankan government has re-quipped its air force with bombers and fighter planes.
     
    Aerial strikes in the name of defeating the LTTE have merely imposed further hardship on Tamils in the northeast. Hundreds of Tamils, women and children have been killed and injured in air strikes.
     
    After each air strike, the government’s propaganda machine announces to the world of the killing of the Tigers. But in reality, known to the government, these strikes are merely to terrorize innocent Tamils from supporting the national cause.
     
    The difficult and trying circumstances of the war has meant that Tamils in general and the LTTE in particular have to make supreme sacrifices in pursuit of their goal. Over the last three decades of so, the LTTE has lost hundreds and thousands of cadres in the fight against the armed forces of the government. A few weeks back, the LTTE had to use its Black Tigers to destroy the government’s air force based in Anuradhpura.
     
    The LTTE has lost some very capable leaders in the past. This something very painful for the organization in general and to its leader Piraphakaran in particular. However, as I have said earlier, no sacrifice is greater that the dream of a separate and dignified Tamil state of Eelam.
     
    Tamil Chelvan was great Tamil diplomat. If he had remained alive and the future of Tamil Eelam secured, he would have been the nation’s foreign minister. The death of Tamil Chelvan and his five dedicated men is a loss that will be mourned by the Tamil Diaspora for years to come.
     
    But one thing is certain. Contrary to the prognosis of the right-wing Sinhala establishment, the loss of Tamil Chelvan is not going to derail the move to achieve an independent state.
     
    In Aceh, the killings of some leaders of the Free Acheh Movement including the commander did not derail the struggle for independence in the 1980s and 1990s. In fact, the freedom movement gained strength after these killings with entry of new individuals.
     
    Similarly, it would be wrong to assume that the demise of Tamil Chelvan will be blow to the Tamil liberation movement. Tamils will keep his dream and commitment alive by increasing their support for the LTTE.
     
    As Sinhala colonization increases in the East, more and more cadres from here will be joining the LTTE. Do they have an option?
     
  • Tamil Peace maker killed deliberately by Sri Lanka
    S. P. Tamilselvan, an internationally respected Peace negotiator for the Political Wing of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), was killed by the Sri Lankan Air Force.
     
    The Canadian Tamil Congress is profoundly saddened and deeply hurt on hearing this heartbreaking and painful news.
     
    Tamilselvan was the chief negotiator for various peace talks with the Sri Lankan state since 1994. He voiced the concerns of the Tamil community at the Peace Talks with a clear unwavering commitment and determination to resolve the conflict through negotiations.
     
    Many prominent international leaders, diplomats and media personal met with Tamilselvan regularly basis. He also met with Canadian elected officials from all political parties and members from the Forum of Federation to work towards a negotiated political settlement for the civil war in Sri Lanka.
     
    "In the past, Mr. Tamilselvan had met with notable Canadians such as Bob Rae and Professor David Cameron to discuss peaceful solutions to the crisis in Sri Lanka." says David Poopalapillai spokesperson for Canadian Tamil Congress.
     
    "To deliberately target a peace negotiator sends a clear message that the Sri Lankan government is not even interested in talking about neither in peace nor in negotiations." Poopalapillai added.
     
    Tamilselvan had traveled to many countries and brought awareness about the plight of Tamils in the hands of the oppressive regime in Sri Lanka. He worked tirelessly to expose the human rights violations committed against the Tamils in Sri Lanka to the world community.
     
    Canadian Tamil Congress extends its heartfelt condolences to the families and colleagues of Mr. Tamilselvan.
     
    We believe that this deliberate and cruel action of the Sri Lankan government shuts the door for a negotiated solution. The Sri Lankan State has demonstrated its unwillingness to commit to peace by taking the life of a strong political leader of Tamils.
     
    Canadian Tamil Congress unequivocally condemns this despicable act of aggression by the Sri Lankan government in killing the chief negotiator of the Tamils.
     
    We urge the Canadian government and elected representatives to condemn this act and to pressure the Sri Lankan government to abandon its military aggression on the Tamils.
     
    We request the Canadian government to exert diplomatic pressure on Sri Lanka to respect Human Rights and to engage in negotiations towards peaceful political solution.
  • Anger and condolences pour in from TamilNadu
    Leaders of major political parties in TamilNadu, India, including the ruling party, expressed their deep sorrow and paid tribute to Brigadier S. P. Thamilselvan, who was killed in an air raid on November 2.
     
    In what is seen as a significant gesture, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and veteran leader of Tamils, M. Karunanidhi, paid tribute to the slain Liberation Tigers commander.
     
    Kalaignar Karunanidhi, quite typical of his style, used the medium of poetry and pun to pass a subtle message that the Tamils of Sri Lanka haven't gone brotherless.
     
    The Chief Minister's emotion-filled condolence gains significance in the background of a prevailing impression that the government of India is fully backing the war efforts of the government of Sri Lanka aiming for a military solution to the ethnic crisis in the island.
     
    According to media reports for quite some time, the government of Sri Lanka was pressing the Indian government with a long list of sophisticated weapons for air combat.
     
    It is speculated that advanced technology was put in use in the pinpoint bombing of the residence of the members of the political division of the LTTE, which claimed the life of their Political Head Brigadier S.P. Thamilchelvan, on Friday.
     
    Mr. Karunanidhi has been an opponent to military option to resolve the Tamil ethnic question in Sri Lanka.
     
    In March 1990, when the IPKF was withdrawn from Sri Lanka, Mr. Karunanidhi, who was then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, refused to attend the reception of the returning troops in Madras.
     
    The veteran Tamil leader paid homage to the former LTTE political head by describing him as a man with an ever-smiling face but a heart that could annihilate the opposition.
    Though young he had the strength of the Himalayas and was molded in the way of LTTE political ideologue Anton Balasingam, the poem said.
     
    “The virtuous youth whom with determination offered himself to the War for Rights – his soul hasn't gone extinguished, he hasn't gone brotherless”.
     
    “A beloved son who wrote his fame all over the earth, wherever Tamils live –Selva where have you gone?”  the poem further read.
     
    Dr Ramadoss, leader of Paattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) which is in the ruling coalition, said the news of the killing of Brig. Tamilselvan has shocked Tamils around the world, in a statement released on Saturday.
     
    Describing the killing as an attack against peace and human rights, the PMK leader said humanity will not forgive the war mongering Sri Lankan government’s racist act.
     
    “Through the heinous assassination of Tamilselvan, the Sri Lankan government has clearly demonstrated its non-commitment to peace and its intention of wiping out the Tamil race from the island.”
     
    He further said people of Tamil Nadu – who share the ethinicity, language and culture with Sri Lankan Tamils – should no longer be spectators to the suffering of Eelam Tamils. 
     
    K. Veeramani, the leader of Dravidar Kazhagam, said the demise of Tamilselvan at a time when the struggle for independence by the Eelam Tamils is reaching decisive stage brings great sadness.
     
    Expressing his sympathies to LTTE leader Velupillai Pirapaharan, the LTTE and Eelam Tamils, Veeramani added that whilst these battle front losses are painful, Tamils around the world should show their solidarity to continue the struggle to realize the dreams of these fallen heroes.
     
    D. Pandian, the Tamil Nadu State secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI), described Tamilselvan as a person who fought for the fundamental rights of the Tamils in Sri Lanka and worked towards resolving the ethnic conflict through negotiations, in a condolence message.
     
    CPI expressed its condolences to Tamilselvan’s family and described him as a man who gave his life for the Tamil peoples fight for rights.
     
    The party also condemned the Sri Lankan government’s approach of solving the ethnic conflict through military might and intention of annihilating the Tamils
     
    The Periyar Dravida Kazhagam held several commemoration meetings in Tamil Nadu to show respect to Tamilselvan. A commemoration meeting was held at the Boss stadium in Salem, where hundreds of Tamils took part to express their respect to Brigadier Tamilselvan.
     
    The mourners chanted slogans and carried black flags, seeking condemnation of the Sri Lankan government for targeting peace activists and urging immediate action from the Indian government.
     
    V. Gopalsamy (Vaiko), the general secretary of Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, described the demise of Tamilselvan as a great loss to the Eelam Tamils.
     
    The air attack showed that the Sri Lanka Government had no faith in resolving the ethnic issue through negotiations, he said.
     
    Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam president Vijayakant also condemned the attack and expressed his condolences at the death of Tamilselvan.
  • "Targeted killing of LTTE Chief Negotiator shatters hopes for peace" - TNA
    Sri Lanka’s largest Tamil political party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Friday expressed its shock at the killing in a government airstrike of Mr S. P. Tamilselvan the LTTE’s Chief Negotiator and head of its Political Wing and five other LTTE officials.
     
    The TNA said the targeted killing of the LTTE’s Chief Negotiator underlined President Mahinda Rajapakse’s insincerity towards a negotiated solution, the TNA also said.
     
    Saluting Mr. Tamilselvan's "selfless sacrifice for the Tamil Eelam struggle" the TNA said it joined the rest of the Tamil community in saluting him and the other LTTE officials killed by the Sri Lanka Air Force bombing.
     
    "We salute his services to the Tamil people and selfless sacrifice for the Tamil Eelam struggle," the brief media release said.
     
    "Although his death is destined to create thousands of new Tamilselvans who will doubtless serve our freedom struggle with dedication, we shudder at the repercussions for peace of this act by the Sri Lanka government," the TNA said.
     
    The TNA said it joined the Tamil community and activists in saluting and paying tribute to Mr. Tamilselvan and the other LTTE officials killed in Friday’s airstrike on their residence.
     
    Speaking to TamilNet Friday, Mr. Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, of the TNA’s Foreign Affairs Committee said that the targeted killing of Mr. Tamilselvan underlined the insincerity of the Rajapakse government’s peace claims.
     
    "In our meetings with numerous representatives of the international community, the TNA repeatedly stated that the Sri Lankan state was not committed to negotiating an equitable solution,” he said. “Despite our warnings, the state was fully backed in its hard line."
     
    "When President Rajapakse came to power, the shift to a military track became much more pronounced. But when we protested to many members of the international community, we were told that this was only to get the LTTE to come to the negotiating table."
     
    "The targeted killing of the LTTE’s Chief Negotiator, in our view, means there can no longer be any illusion as to the State’s interest in negotiating a lasting solution.
     
    "In this context, the Tamil community will be closely watching the actions of the international community vis-à-vis its repeatedly stated commitment to a negotiated peace."
     
  • Condolence poetry by Kalaignar Karunanidhi
    Translated by TamilNet
     
    S. P. Thamilchelvan
    (1967 - 2007)
     
    Always smiling face -
    A mind that sets ablaze opposition!
     
    Young, young, yet a heart of
    Himalayan strength, strength!
     
    A commander seasoned in the line
    of the old lion Balasingam
     
    The virtuous youth whom with determination
    offered himself to the War for Rights -
    his soul hasn't gone extinguished
    he hasn't gone brotherless
     
    A beloved son who wrote his fame
    all over the earth, wherever Tamils live -
    where have you gone?
  • UNP hails Tamilselvan killing, slams LTTE
    Sri Lanka’s main opposition United National Party (UNP) has hailed the killing of LTTE Political Head and Chief Negotiator, S. P. Tamilchelvan, in a Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) airstrike on his official residence Friday as “a victorious moment.”
     
    Praising the Air Force, UNP spokesman Lakshman Kireiella said it was not possible to talk peace with the LTTE.
     
    Mr. Kireiella told the BBC Sinhala Service, Sandeshaya, on Friday that the UNP congratulates the SLAF on its airstrike.
     
    He said the killing of Mr. Tamilselvan and five other LTTE officials “a victorious moment.”
     
    Mr. Kireiella said the LTTE has now been politically crippled by the loss of Mr. Tamilselvan and Mr. Anton Balasingham, the movement’s late theoretician, who passed away a year ago.
     
    The LTTE is thus being defeated politically, he said.
     
    Mr. Kireiella said that there was no point holding peace talks with the LTTE.
     
    “You can’t have peace talks if only one party is willing to talk,” he said.
     
    “When the UNP was in power we tried to negotiate with them. But they were not willing,” Mr. Kireiella said.
     
    Mr. Tamilselvan was a member of the negotiating team that Mr. Balasingham led in six rounds of Norwegian facilitated negotiations with the then UNP government in 2002 and 2003.
     
    It was during these talks that the controversial agreement by the LTTE and UNP government to explore federalism was reached (later referred to as the ‘Oslo Declaration’).
     
    Last month the UNP announced a u-turn on its support for federalism, saying it was ‘repositioning’ itself on power-sharing as a solution to the island’s protracted conflict.
     
    However, Mr. Vidar Helgesen, former Deputy Foreign Minister of Norway, who was responsible for the Oslo’s facilitation in the peace process, told the NTB agency Saturday that Mr. Tamilselvan played a key role in the talks.
     
    Meanwhile UNP stalwart S.B. Dissanayake told media Friday that Mr. Tamilselvan’s death was no matter for regret.
     
    The bombing raid on Mr. Tamilselvan’s residence was a “morale boosting victory” for the Air Force, he told the Daily Mirror.
     
    He said even during peace talks between the UNP and the LTTE, Tamilselvan remained a stumbling block in attempts to reach an amicable settlement.
     
    “So, there should not be any regret about his death,” Mr. Dissanayake said.
     
    He said Mr. Tamilselvan was instrumental in engineering a boycott by Tamil voters of the 2005 presidential election in the northern and eastern provinces that eventually resulted in the UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe being defeated at the poll by a narrow margin.
  • Jubilant Sri Lanka threatens to wipe Tigers out
    Hailing the Air Force bombing raid Friday which killed the Tamil Tigers chief negotiator and Political Wing head, Mr. S. P. Tamilselvan and five other LTTE officials, Sri Lankan Defence Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa said his government would kill other LTTE leaders ‘one by one’.
     
    Sources said he made his comments, quoted by Reuters, at a celebratory meeting at Temple Trees, the official residence of President Mahinda Rajapakse, who is also Mr. Gotabaya’s brother.
     
    Meanwhile, the Colombo stock market soared on news of the deaths.
     
    Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa welcomed the news of the killings of Mr. Tamilselvan and the others, and said the Sri Lankan military would pick off the rest of the Tigers' leaders one by one.
     
    "This is just a message, that we know where their leaders are. I know the locations of all the leaders, that if we want we can take them one by one, so they must change their hideouts," he told Reuters.
     
    "When the time comes only, we take them one by one."
     
    Mr. Tamilselvan was one of the LTTE’s internationally recognized political officials, having been a negotiator for the Tigers since 2002 and having headed the Political Wing from several years before that.
     
    The LTTE has conferred its highest military rank, Brigadier, to Mr. Tamilselvan.
     
    Late last year Mr. Tamilselvan was appointed Chief Negotiator by the LTTE, taking over from Mr. Anton Balasingham, whose failing health compelled his retirement.
     
    The Sri Lankan government’s decision to target Mr. Mr. Tamilselvan was a body blow to lingering hopes of a resumption of peace talks.
     
    "The loss of Thamilselvan in this way would be a very big setback to any hope of peace talks in the near future - which in any case were not apparent either," Jehan Perera of the National Peace Council, an advocacy group, told Reuters.
     
    Sri Lanka’s largest Tamil political party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has expressed its shock at the killings and praised Mr. Tamilselvan’s role in the Tamil freedom struggle.
     
    "We shudder at the repercussions for peace of this act by the Sri Lanka government," the TNA said.
     
    Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's stock market rose on news of the death of Mr. Tamilselvan, closing a provisional 0.99 percent firmer in late trade, Reuters reported.
     
    "Any sort of victory in the war will boost the market. So there was high activity after the news," said Harsha Fernando, CEO at SC securities.
     
  • Tamil Tigers political leader S. P. Thamilselvan
    In October 2006, when talks in Geneva between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan government broke down, a journalist asked S. P. Tamilselvan whether the Tamil people had been given any hope by the discussions. The head of the Tamil delegation was to the point: "We ourselves are not hopeful, [so] how can the people be?"
     
    In recent years, Tamilselvan had been the international face of the struggle by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam or (LTTE) or Tamil Tigers, as they fought for a homeland in Sri Lanka.
     
    With the group's leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, declining to appear in public, Tamilselvan was one of the points of contact for a conflict that has taken an estimated 70,000 lives.
     
    On 2 November, he, too, became one of its victims when he was killed during a Sri Lankan air -force bombardment.
     
    Tamilselvan joined the armed struggle in 1983 as fighting broke out between the LTTE and the government forces. He took part in several military operations in north Sri Lanka, including an abortive bid to storm the Elephant Base camp in 1992 and the battles in Pooneryn. But he was wounded in both the stomach and the leg and had to refrain from any further active military service.
     
    Many observers saw Tamilselvan as a moderate, but earlier this summer he told reporters that the LTTE were prepared to launch major attacks on both military and economic targets to try to cripple the country's economy.
     
    "Let the Tamil people live in their traditional homeland," he said in an interview in Kilinochchi, the LTTE’s de facto headquarters. "Leave the Tamil people without any military occupation or persecution. That will be the day there is no war."
     
    Tamilselvan was born into a humble background and worked originally as a barber, before rising through the LTTE ranks, partly through his association with the Tamil leader, Prabhakaran, for whom he once served as a bodyguard. His wife is a member of the Tigers' women's wing.
     
    In 2001 he was considered of such importance that the Sri Lankan government dispatched its army's Deep Penetration Unit after him; on that occasion he survived the attempt to kill him.
     
    His profile grew during the late 1990s, especially after Norway took an interest in the struggling peace process. When the Tigers' international spokesman, Anton Balasingham, became increasingly ill from kidney problems, Tamilselvan, who was already heading the organisation’s political wing, found himself being asked to take a more prominent role as a spokesman – even though he did not speak English.
     
    Following Balasingham's death in 2006, Tamilselvan was the Tigers' chief point of contact for the outside world.
     
  • Peace envoy's tribute to S.P. Thamilselvan
    Jon Hanssen Bauer, the Norwegian special envoy for the peace process in Sri Lanka, Saturday paid tributes to Liberation Tigers Political Head and Chief Negotiator S. P. Tamilselvan.
    "We received the very sad news yesterday that S. P. Tamilselvan has been killed in the suburb of Kilinochchi. Anpumani or Alex whom we knew in the facilitation of the negotiation process was also among those who were killed.
     
    Tamilselvan was the leader of the Liberation Tigers Political Wing. He took part in all negotiation meetings in the peace process in 2002 and 2003, next in line of Anton Balasingam. Nearly for ten years he played a central role in the endeavours to find a political and peaceful solution to the Sri Lankan conflict.
     
    He led the negotiations on the Joint Mechanism to channel support to the tsunami victims and for the reconstruction following the tragic catastrophe.
     
    Last year, he took part in negotiations in Geneva in February where he was the Chief Negotiator when Anton Balasingam became ill.
     
    In all my visits to Sri Lanka and in my meetings with the visiting LTTE delegation, it was Tamilselvan who received me. He received all the other envoys in the same way, although he was a busy man in his position as the political head of the LTTE.
     
    Over the years, he became LTTE's smiling face to the outside world, the most important channel, not only for Norway, but also for many other countries. In fact, he was the important link we had towards the LTTE.
     
    His role was important for our understanding of the politics, point of view and analysis of the Tigers. He was a patient man in explaining the rightful demands of Tamils.
     
    In the many and long conversations, I had with him, I gained the impression that he was a pleasant man of intelligence, patience and moderate outlook.
     
    He was extremely well formulated in his descriptive responses which were elegantly interpreted and conveyed to us by Mr. George. He impressed me as a person who was hopeful and was willing to find ways ahead, even in such situations in which things seemed impossible to others.
     
    He never expressed anger or bitterness. He could only show a weak irritation on occasions when I insisted too much. We both knew that we were doing our jobs within our mandates.
     
    I had the impression that whenever he was unable to meet the wishes put forward by Norway, he expressed regret and tried to find out an alternative way. As you could expect from a responsible negotiator, he was ready with the willingness to compromise.
     
    He was a moderate person within the LTTE, one who sought political alternatives. When he led the delegation to Geneva last year in October, he already evolved to the level of filling the gap created by the absence of Anton Balasingam.
     
    The only area I noticed which he was not capable of compromising was his commitment of sacrificing himself to the cause of Tamils.
     
    Within a year, both Anton Balasingam and Tamilselvan have passed away. We have lost the two leaders of the delegation who have played crucial roles.
     
    They have left behind a big vacuum at a very critical juncture of the Sri Lankan process. Tamilselvan's demise is a big loss for all of us.
     
    The only way to honour him is to find a political solution to the conflict in Sri Lanka. Far too many have died; many children have lost their parents and many have lost their sisters and brothers.
     
    Our deepest sympathies go to all the victims. Especially today, our sympathies go to the families of Tamilselvan and his colleagues who were killed in this terrible air attack of yesterday.
     
    Peace shall shine on their memories."
     
  • Public face of the Tamil Tigers
    S. P. Tamilselvan – who died in a Sri Lankan air force raid on Friday morning – is the most senior Tamil Tiger leader to have been killed in recent years.
     
    The death of their media-savvy political wing leader at the age of 40 means the LTTE have lost an experienced and suave political negotiator.
     
    For many years S. P. Tamilselvan was the public face of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
     
    Since 1994, he had been a member of the LTTE peace negotiating team and had participated in almost every round of face-to-face talks with the Sri Lankan authorities and Norwegian mediators.
     
    I met him on a number of occasions in recent years, both in Sri Lanka and during peace talks in Geneva.
     
    He always came across as smiling and friendly - although his enemies say behind the warm exterior there lurked a ruthless, hardened military man.
     
    Even recently, a senior LTTE source told me Tamilselvan was away in the north-west heading a fighting unit.
     
    Rise to prominence
     
    Unlike many of his comrades, S. P. Tamilselvan did not look like a veteran guerrilla fighter. Dressed in a suit he could have passed himself off as an executive and was very at ease at the negotiating table.
     
    He was dedicated to the LTTE cause and firmly believed that one day they would realise their dream of a separate nation - Eelam - for Sri Lanka's Tamils.
     
    He was always keen to tell the world what was happening to the Tamil population in north-east Sri Lanka.
     
    After the devastating tsunami in December 2004, he was quick to ring the BBC Tamil service to say what was going on inside rebel-held territory.
     
    He supervised relief efforts in LTTE-held areas, and was praised in many quarters for his actions.
     
    While sometimes long-winded, Mr. Tamilselvan was skilled at reflecting the views of the LTTE leadership.
     
    Like many other Tiger cadres, he started in the armed wing and rose in prominence due to his military exploits.
     
    Soon, he entered into the inner circles of Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.
     
    When Prabhakaran was in India in the early 1980s, Tamilselvan was his de facto aide-de-camp.
     
    "He was very close to the LTTE leader. His demise may bring about a hardening of attitude in the LTTE hierarchy," according to Sri Lanka analyst DBS Jeyaraj.
     
    S. P. Tamilselvan's closeness to the Tiger leader also helped him to rise in the LTTE hierarchy.
     
    He was once the commander of the strategically-important Jaffna region. Many accuse him of leading a group carrying out assassinations in that area at the time.
     
    Skilled with the media
     
    Following a battlefield injury in 1993, S. P. Tamilselvan was asked to focus more on political matters.
     
    It was to prove a crucial period for the Tigers. At the time the LTTE was considered basically a military movement and its gradual entry into politics was a big challenge for the organisation.
     
    The political wing leader soon adapted himself to his new role.
     
    He led the Tigers' negotiating team during the first ever direct peace talks with the Sri Lankan government in 1994-95.
     
    More recently, he represented the LTTE in various rounds of peace talks, including the last, fruitless meeting in Geneva late last year.
     
    S. P. Tamilselvan knew how to handle the international media and – through an interpreter – was adept at handling prickly issues such as child conscription, political killings and questions on the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
    After Tiger ideologue Anton Balasingham died last year, the LTTE projected Tamilselvan as their chief negotiator.
     
    The rebels may find him difficult to replace.
     
    He is survived by his wife, an eight-year-old daughter and a son of four.
     
  • Slain Tiger was public face of LTTE
    Almost always smiling, smartly dressed and carrying a polished cane, S.P. Tamilselvan was the key contact point between Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers and the outside world.
     
    Killed on Friday in a government air strike, the leader of the Tigers' political wing was the public face and mouthpiece of the LTTE who met foreign diplomats and reporters denied access to reclusive leader Velupillai Prabhakaran when they visited the de facto capital Kilinochchi.
     
    While the government says his death shows they can strike senior rebels at will, analysts and diplomats say it will make bringing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the government together even harder, further locking the country into its civil war.
     
    In previous decades of war, Prabhakaran used English-speaking and British passport-holding negotiator Anton Balasingham for political advice. But Balasingham's influence appeared to have waned after he returned to London for medical treatment before his death last year.
     
    Diplomats and observers could never agree whether Tamilselvan exercised significant influence over LTTE policy. But he effectively replaced Balasingham as the voice of the LTTE, and led a delegation to peace talks in Geneva last year.
     
    Born in 1967 on the northern Jaffna peninsula in what is now a government-held enclave, he joined the fledgling movement in the 1980s before being wounded the following decade by an Indian peacekeeping force that ended up fighting both sides.
     
    ONCE A COMMANDER
     
    Once a military commander, he joined the political wing – although he still occasionally appeared in public in the LTTE trademark tiger-striped camouflage carrying a sidearm.
     
    Visitors would be shown into a glass-fronted peace secretariat office before his Landcruiser with blacked out windows screeched into the compound and he stepped out accompanied by bodyguards with radios and assault rifles.
     
    Both before and after a 2002 ceasefire collapsed into open warfare last year, he would express the commitment of the LTTE to peace. But he was unwavering in his demands for a separate ethnic Tamil homeland.
     
    He clearly understood some English but preferred to use his veteran official translator George, a former postmaster, whose flowery translations drove some correspondents to despair.
     
    "If the military decides to thrust a war on the people by escalating military violence ... and thereby create a situation whereby we cannot just be onlookers that may be a very decisive moment where we have to make decisions to make sure the people are safeguarded," he told Reuters in 2006 as violence flared.
     
    He would reply to questions with an unnerving smile and would shift uncomfortably when asked about thorny topics such as human rights abuses, child soldier abductions or ambushes on troops that seemed designed to restart the war.
     
    "We have need of such tactics," he said regarding child soldier recruitment. "But in the case of (a) 16-year-old child who was pulled out and shot dead by the military, can we go and say to the child's brother ... you cannot resort to violence because you are below the age of 18."
     
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