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A Sri Lankan representative group held an unprecedented Peace Vigil in front of the European Headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva on Wednesday urging the LTTE to stop violence, and terrorism, and to negotiate in good faith within the democratic system and also condemning LTTE attempts to sabotage the Norwegian peace initiative citing the dooms-day propaganda against the Norwegian efforts published by the LTTE, in this week’s issue of the Tiger weekly, the Eelanadu. It was the first time that such a cross section of Sri Lankans convened in front of the United Nations in Geneva. The oval shaped meeting ground in front of the Palais des Nations - the historic League of Nations building - is considered the Hyde Park of continental Europe. Activists from all walks of life representing all shades of opinion converge on this ground to say their piece against offenders of all types, the Governments, terrorists, transnationals and even international bodies like WTO. Some weeks ago, an LTTE orchestrated demonstration took place at the same venue. In contrast however, the Peace Vigil did not distribute any hate literature, but simply called for democratic negotiations and devolution of power while rejecting the ruthless brand of terrorism practised by the LTTE. The multi-lingual banners and placards condemned Tiger terror and high-lighted the suicide bombing of Neelan Thiruchelvam in whose memory a photo exhibition was mounted at the Grand Assembly Hall of the Palais des Nations. The UN Security staff warned the LTTE agents who tried to disrupt advertisements directing viewers to photo exhibition dedicated to Neelan. Tamil language banners urged the LTTE "not to kill Tamils in order to liberate them" and stop the abhorrent practice of using Tamil children as child soldiers. Another prominent banner supported the peace initiative of Norway. This initiative by a group of Sri Lankans comes in the wake of reports that the Swiss authorities are under increasing pressure to evict the LTTE front organisations as a result of other European countries tightening up counter-terrorism and anti fund raising measures in line with the recent UN Convention Against Terrorist Financing. Despite the LTTE efforts early this month to stage-manage a noisy gathering in front of the UN, no international organisation or any prominent non-governmental organisation took any notice of LTTE rhetoric to propose any action supportive of LTTE within the UN. On the contrary many government delegations condemned LTTE terrorism while supporting Sri Lanka’s efforts towards ensuring minority rights through regional autonomy. Not a single responsible NGO, spoke at the Human Rights Commission supporting the LTTE line. It was clear to those present, at the UN that the demonstration was orchestrated by the LTTE operatives at great expense in order to re-energise their fund raising activities in Switzerland and in other European countries. The organisers of the Peace Vigil handed over a collectively signed petition to the Swiss Government, and to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reminding them that the LTTE and its leadership are responsible for crimes against humanity like massacring innocent men, women and children; ethnic cleansing; the cold-blooded killing of human rights defenders like Thiruchelvam and peace makers like Rajiv Gandhi and Amirthalingam. They also drew the attention of the UN and the Swiss authorities to the fact that the LTTE and its leadership stand convicted of assassination, suicide bombing and other horrendous violations of human rights, whilst leading nations like the US, Canada, and India have branded this organisation as a terrorist outfit threatening regional and international stability. The peace marchers reminded the international community that the LTTE mouth-piece in Europe the ‘Eelamurasu’ in its issue of 3-9 February 2000 had already made the alarming prediction that the Norwegian initiative will suffer the same fate of the Rajiv Gandhi intervention! The organisers also plan to carry out a pan-European campaign to generate awareness about the trans-boundary nature of the threat posed by the LTTE and its far-flung net working arrangements with trans-national criminal syndicates.
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