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Tuesday, December 16, 2008 - 05.05 GMT |
Its time for EU to act against LTTE front
organizations, tells Sri Lanka at the
Europol seminar
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Sufficient evidence was available that the
operations of front organizations are an
integral part of the LTTE, as seen in recent
action against the LTTE fronts in the US and
Canada said the Sri Lankan Ambassador to the
EU, Belgium and Luxembourg Ravinatha
Aryasinha.
“Taking concerted action against such
entities who act for, or on behalf of, or at
the behest of terrorist organizations, is an
obligation countries have voluntarily
undertaken under the numerous UN conventions
on terrorism. Doing so also casts on
countries the obligation to implement these
provisions equally, to all terrorist
entities across the globe,” he said
addressing a Europol seminar, organised
within the framework of EU-US cooperation,
held on December 09 and 10 in the Hague,
Netherlands, on the theme “Time to Act: The
LTTE, its Front Organizations, and the
Challenge to Europe”.
The seminar brought together representatives
from 15 EU Member States, as well as from
Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Sri Lanka,
USA, Switzerland and Interpol, as well as
representatives from other European
Institutions; Eurojust and SitCen (the
European Union (EU) Joint Situation Centre),
for an assessment of the activities of the
LTTE and its front organizations.
Ambassador Ariyasinha observed that this was
probably the first time such a wide-ranging
international group of experts had chosen to
devote an entire two day seminar which
focused on the worldwide activities of the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
This underlined the seriousness with which
the law enforcement and criminal justice
communities in these countries are watching
developments relating to the activities of
the LTTE and its front organizations.
In a detailed analysis of the origins of the
LTTE, the trajectory taken by the group in
its global operations, he said the actions
of LTTE front organizations: the Tamil
Rehabilitation Organization (TRO); the World
Tamil Movement (WTM); the Tamil Coordinating
Committee (TCC); and others, form an
integral part of the LTTE overseas
infrastructure directed by the LTTE’s
international Secretariat in the Wanni.
While acknowledging the action taken in the
US and Canada to proscribe LTTE front
organizations, the TRO and the WTM,
respectively, Ambassador Aryasinha said the
government of Sri Lanka regretted that at
present sufficient attention was not being
paid in Europe to the activities of the LTTE
front organizations, despite their activists
being arrested and scheduled to stand trial
in France, the UK and Italy, and TRO
accounts being frozen in the UK and Denmark.
Elaborating on front organization
involvement in fund raising, money
laundering, criminality, “Thamil Cholai’
schools, Satellite TV/ Radio and internet
networks, telephone card business, he said
it was vital for the international
community, including the EU, to interdicted
these activities. Furthermore, with respect
to engagement in propaganda, glorification
of terrorism and martyrdom, The Ambassador
said, it was imperative that the EU come to
an early determination as to where the right
of freedom of expression ends and the
European Council’s recently sanctioned
regulations to curb terrorist related acts
of glorification of terrorism and martyrdom
begins. He called for the early EU listing
of the TRO and other LTTE front
organizations in Europe, greater vigilance,
cooperation in intelligence sharing and
cooperation in the field of criminal
justice.
Emphasising his theme “Time to Act”,
Ambassador Aryasinha cautioned that failure
to take timely action to curb LTTE and front
organization activity in Europe could have
several ramifications: it could render the
sacrifices being made on the ground to
eradicate terrorism in Sri Lanka wasted and
leave open the possibility for the renewal
of the conflict; the loss of dominance of
control in the Wanni could also result in
the LTTE resorting to use greater pressure
on the diaspora to continue funding the
organization which is bound to intensify
conflict within the diaspora with those who
opt for peace and reconciliation, further
networked and trained as they are, in order
to survive, members of the LTTE are also
likely to continue to engage in clandestine
businesses or engage in criminal activities
in their host countries.
REPORT ON
EU-US INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR ON LTTE
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