LTTE’s Oslo statement lacks clarity and is misplaced – Peace Secretariat [Monday , June 19, 2006- 10.00 GMT]

Following the LTTE’s unilateral abortion of the Oslo Meeting scheduled for 8-9 June on frivolous grounds, the LTTE issued a unilateral statement from Oslo on June 9th which was later released to the media.

The LTTE’s unreasonable and intransigent position in refusing to sit down with the Government delegation for discussions has placed it in a situation where it could only issue a unilateral statement stating its own position. Further, the statement has gone beyond matters relating to the modalities of operation of the SLMM and the security of the monitors, which were the main items on the agenda of the Oslo Meet, to issues of LTTE’s own choice which could best have been discussed and negotiated either at the next round of talks in Geneva, or preferably in negotiations relating to a permanent political solution to the conflict. The LTTE’s intransigence has forced it to a dark corner of unilateralism.

It appears by the failure of the LTTE to present itself for discussions at Oslo and to participate at Geneva 2, it is sending a message to the International Community that discussion is not the medium for finding solution to the on-going problems. Furthermore it continues to rely on violence and terrorism to achieve its political goals.

The GoSL, for its part, remains committed and ready for talks on all of the matters mentioned above, humanitarian as well as core political issues.

Nevertheless, it is felt that the Preamble to the so-called Communique needs closer scrutiny:

1. “The de facto State of Tamil Eelam exercising jurisdiction over 70 percent of the Tamil Homeland, with control over the seas appurtenant there, with its own laws, independent judiciary, police force and full administrative apparatus”.

Neither the GoSL nor any other member of the International Community recognizes a “de facto State of Tamil Eelam”. This remains a myth. The LTTE militarily dominates the Districts of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu in the Northern Province, as well as pockets of territory elsewhere in the North and the East which are by no means contiguous. These are areas that are also sparsely populated. Further the areas that the LTTE purports to describe as the “Tamil Homeland” in reference to the North and the East, are heavily populated by Muslims as well as Sinhalese and are by no means mono ethnic. The North-East of Sri Lanka is as much multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, and multi-religious and multi-cultural. Further, the Tamil population in areas outside the North and the East, exceed those living in the so-called “Tamil Homeland”. (More than 50 %).

The claim of the trappings of a State with its own judiciary, police force and administrative mechanism needs imaginative support. The LTTE administration is both rudimentary and despotic, devoid of the rule of law and democracy and monolithic and intolerant of dissent. Furthermore, the writ of the Sri Lankan State runs in the areas that the LTTE claims to control. Without the States’ own provincial and local government institutions and other delivery mechanisms, the Tamil people residing in the purported “de facto State of Tamil Eelam” would have been starved of basic amenities and placed in an even worse humanitarian situation. The Sri Lankan State appoints staff to and funds all institutions such as Government Agencies (Kachcheries), schools, hospitals etc. The main cause for the continuing deprivations suffered by the Tamil people living in LTTE controlled areas is the insistence of the LTTE that it and its frontal organizations should be the sole agency through which relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction of these areas are mediated. It is this exclusivist stance of the LTTE that contributed to administrative and constitutional impediments to the formulation of appropriate mechanisms for meeting the humanitarian needs of the people of the area.

2. LTTE is the “authentic representative of the Tamil Nation and its sole interlocutor in the current peace process” as well as the “sole defender and protector of the Tamil Nation, its People and the State institutions with its modern defence forces”.

The LTTE is the “sole interlocutor”, not in the peace process, but in the peace talks with the GoSL facilitated by Norway. The peace process, on the other hand, is something wider and deeper that involves all other legitimate stakeholders in the search for a just and durable peace, not to mention reconciliation of all communities and Peoples who inhabit the country. Further, the pre-eminent role given to the LTTE in peace talks does not stem from the recognition that the LTTE is the sole representative or the only authentic representative of the Tamil People. In fact, statements emanating from the European Union as well as other key international actors after the imposition of the ban on the LTTE have clearly emphasized the point that the LTTE and the Tamil People are not one and the same. On the contrary, the LTTE since its very inception has had a history of employing violence to annihilate the leadership, members and sympathizers of other Tamil organizations and parties, especially those which refuse to accept it as the “sole representative” of the Tamil people, in its pursuit of hegemony. Such an organization cannot claim to be the authentic representative of the Tamil people, leave alone claim to be the sole defender and protector of the “Tamil Nation”. The nihilism of the LTTE is one of the primary causes behind the deprivations and sufferings being undergone by the Tamil people. These are not the attributes of the “authentic representative” or the “sole protector” of the Tamil People.

Being appreciative of the rule of law, human rights and the democratic framework, the GoSL does not believe in responding to terrorism with terrorism. It seeks to engage the LTTE in talks so as to address the root causes of the conflict that may have contributed to it to take to arms and the path of terrorism. Paradoxically, the LTTE had never in any negotiations with any Government of Sri Lanka agreed to address and redress the roots causes of the conflict.

As regards its claim to have a “modern defence forces”, the most recent claymore mine attack by the LTTE on a civilian bus carrying men, women and children on their way to attend a funeral is not modern. It is despicably barbaric. While the military capabilities of the LTTE have been noted, neither can one underestimate the capacity of the LTTE to function as an eternal killing machine that kills innocent civilians without rhyme or reason. Suggestions by some advocates that the LTTE kills only as a retaliation or as tit for tat reveals a lack of understanding of how these so-called “modern defence forces” of the LTTE functions. It appears that the LTTE has decided to exit from the peace process and its strategy appears to be one that aims at an ethnic backlash as a justification for opting out of the peace process. The LTTE can rest assured that the GoSL will not let this happen. Indications of its approach appear from its persistent refusal to resume the Geneva 2 Talks, its refusal to talk to the Government delegation in Oslo, statements in its frontal website “Nitharsanam” warning of an imminent and devastating strike, and war-mongering and jingoism by key LTTE leaders in public meetings.

As the Peace Secretariat of the Government, SCOPP urges the LTTE to re-enter negotiations with the GoSL, either directly or through the good offices of the Norwegian facilitator. It also urges the LTTE to commit itself to an inclusive peace process that involves all other legitimate stakeholders and contribute towards the formulation of a truly progressive and democratic consensus that would ensure to the Tamil, Muslim and Sinhala of this Island State a just and a durable peace.

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Last Updated Date: June 19, 2006 -10.00 GMT