By Ravinatha P. Aryasinha
Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the EU,
Belgium and Luxembourg
 

a) List TRO and other front organizations or add as a.k.a.

Through Council Decision 2006/379/EC of 29 May 2006 the EC applied EC Regulation No. 2580/2001 on specific measures directed against groups and entities with a view to combating terrorism to the LTTE. Despite this stricture it is clear that the LTTE through its front organizations continue to engage in terrorist financing making a mockery of the EU listing of the LTTE.

With a view to addressing this continuing trend, Sri Lanka presented in June 2008 a comprehensive dossier to the EU on the TRO and other key LTTE front organization operations in Europe and elsewhere. This dossier was further supplemented with information on continuing appeals being made by the LTTE through the front organizations to the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora for enhanced financing through numerous propaganda campaigns and other means.

All our countries are obligated to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1373. Additionally all parties to the UN Convention on Terrorist Financing are required to take specific measures against fund raising activities of terrorist groups. The US and Canadian proscriptions of the TRO and the WTM respectively, provide a plethora of evidence that underlines the culpability of LTTE front organizations. It is necessary, that the EU address this phenomena in an effective manner.

b) Greater vigilance

It is of paramount importance that greater vigilance is exercised by law enforcement and intelligence agencies in EU countries on the varying methods adopted by particularly LTTE front organizations.

In this context, it is vital that the finance generating and arms procurement networks of the LTTE, which has a global reach and exploits Tamil Diaspora presence, is arrested in all parts of the world, simultaneously. Doing so piece meal within states or leaving lag time in action taken between states, will only allow the LTTE and its front organizations to move their operations to avoid detection.

c) Modalities for Intelligence cooperation.

It is critical that we identify the clandestine net work in place across the globe, involved in arms procurement and money laundering and other illegal operations. This is not something the Government of Sri Lanka can do on European soil, but must necessarily be initiated by the respective governments themselves.

d) Modalities for criminal justice field cooperation

Understanding each others criminal justice systems relating to terrorism, building of formal and informal contacts/enhanced interaction between relevant authorities, cooperation among prosecutorial authorities, exchange of information on a pro-active basis between relevant entities, cooperation between Financial Intelligence Units (FIU) in the respective jurisdictions and entering into Mutual Legal Assistance arrangements in criminal matters are some of the means through which this objective can be addressed.