5. How has the world
responded to the rise of the LTTE?
- Proscription and its limitations
The response of the international community
to the threat posed by LTTE terrorists was
dismal. It would be fair to say that it was
only following the assassination of Rajiv
Gandhi, that appropriate note was taken of
the risk posed by this group outside Sri
Lanka. While India banned the LTTE in May
1992 following the assassination, it was not
until the mid-1990s and a spate of
international terrorist incidents, and
particularly the LTTE’s attack on the
Central Bank in January 1996, that the world
began to respond to the LTTE phenomenon.
- India proscribed the LTTE on 14 May 1992
following the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.
- Soon after the Indian proscription,
Malaysia banned the activity of the LTTE in
the country.
- The US listed the LTTE as a FTO on 8 Oct.
1997
- UK, where the headquarters of the LTTE was
housed at the time, proscribed the LTTE on
28 Feb 2001
- UNSC listed the LTTE in UNSC Resolution
1612 (2005) for Child Conscription
- Canada proscribed the LTTE on 8 April
2006.
- The 27 member European Union proscribed
the LTTE on 29 May 2006
- In Australia where LTTE assets are
effectively frozen in accordance with the
listing of the LTTE under UN arrangements,
proscribing the LTTE under domestic law is
“currently under consideration by the
Attorney General” according to a statement
made by the Australian Foreign Minister
Stephen Smith on 13 October 2008.
The unfortunate lack of a consensus on the
danger constituted by the LTTE, is amplified
by the mere fact that although the
atrocities of the group were well known
since the early 1980s, from India which
first proscribed it in 1992, to Australia
which is presently contemplating whether to
ban the LTTE, it has taken almost two
decades.
So while I often hear it being said in
Brussels, “but we have banned the LTTE”, my
response is that “there is no LTTE around to
be affected by your ban”. Particularly in
Europe, the listing only results in the
freezing of the assets of such organizations
and their overt activity.
The truth is that while the proscriptions in
the West have clearly had a psychological
bearing on the group, they have had little
tangible effect on the actual LTTE
operations and there is no knowledge of any
funds frozen following the listing of the
LTTE in Europe.
Today the LTTE, albeit under cover, operates
within Europe as brazenly as ever. This
poses a huge collective challenge to all of
us, if we are seriously interested in
combating international terrorism. It is
apparent that certain member states of the
EU clearly lack the political will to take
decisive action against the LTTE and its
numerous fronts operating quite openly on
its soil.
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