The Tamil National Struggle & the Indo Sri Lanka Peace Accord -
An International Conference at the Middlesex Polytechnic, London
30 April & 1 May 1988Conference Resolutions
1 May 1988
Resolution 1: Right To Self Determination
Resolution 2: Recognition Of Liberation Tigers Of Tamil Eelam
Resolution 3: Immediate Ceasefire And Negotiations
Resolution 4: Secure The Life Of Velupillai Pirabaharan
Resolution 5: Political Asylum For Tamil Refugees
N.Seevaratnam, Secretary General
World Federation of Tamils to Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi
Resolution 1: Right To Self Determination
Considering that the Tamils of Eelam are a people bound together by a shared heritage, a common culture
and a common language; and
Considering that the togetherness of the Tamil people has evolved in the context of a
shared economic life in their homeland in the North and
East of Eelam; and
Considering that without a homeland they would not have become a people and that
without a homeland they will cease to be a people; and
Considering that the togetherness of the Tamil people has been reinforced by an ever widening and deepening national oppression by successive
Sinhala governments - an oppression which has included the disenfranchisement of Plantation Tamils, state aided colonisation of the homeland of the Tamil
people, the downgrading of the Tamil language and
the enactment of the Sinhala Only Act, discriminatory employment policies, the
inequitable allocation of resources to Tamil areas, the
exclusion of eligible Tamil students from universities, the
refusal to share power within the frame of a federal constitution, and the resort to state sponsored violence against the Tamil people
to intimidating them into submission and which violence has led to a genocidal situation;
and
Considering that a people oppressed by an alien people have the inalienable and
inherent right to engage in armed struggle against that
oppression and recognising that this right of self
determination has today become a peremptory norm of the law of nations; and
Considering that the armed struggle of the Tamil people, in which thousands of Tamils
have given their lives so that their brothers and sisters may live in equality and justice
has cemented the togetherness of the Tamil people; and
Recognising that the existential political reality today is that by any and every test,
the Tamils of Eelam are a nation and that Tamil nationalism is
an irresistible political force with power to direct and influence the conduct of Tamils
everywhere; and
Recognising the inherent and self evident justice of the claim of the Tamil people in
the joint and unanimous Thimpu Declaration of July 1985,
for
- A. The recognition of the Tamil Nation in Eelam
- B. The recognition of the Northern and Eastern provinces as the homeland of the Tamils
in Eelam
- C. The recognition of the right of self determination of the Tamil Nation in Eelam
- D. The recognition of the equal right to citizenship and other fundamental rights of all
Tamils in Eelam: and
Considering that the right of self determination is the right of a people to freely
choose their political status and may be exercised while remaining in association or
integration with an existing state; and
Recognising that peace will not come to the Indian Region
without justice and that justice demands that action should be taken to secure to the
Tamils of Eelam those basic and fundamental rights which
spring from the inherent dignity of man because the Tamil people seek to live with dignity
with their fellow men, and considering that foremost amongst those basic and fundamental
rights, and from which all other rights flow, is the
right of self determination of a people:
This International Conference of Delegates from more than one hundred Tamil
Associations from Africa, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Europe, India, Malaysia, Middle East,
Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, and the United States of
America, in expressing the considered will of the International Tamil Community on this
1st Day of May 1988
1. Expresses the solidarity of the International Tamil
Community with their brothers and sisters in Eelam at this time of trial and
tribulation; and
2. Declares the support of the International Tamil Community for the
national liberation struggle of the Tamils of Eelam; and
3. Recognises the Tamils of Eelam as a nation with the right to self determination; and
4. Calls upon the Government of India, the
Government of Sri Lanka, and the other member states of the
United Nations as well as Non-Governmental Agencies with consultative status to
support the struggle of the Tamils of Eelam for their basic and fundamental rights,
including the right of self determination; and
5. Urges the International Community to assist
in securing a just political settlement of the conflict in Sri Lanka on the basis of
an open recognition of the political reality that there exists in Sri Lanka today two
nations - the Tamil Nation and the Sinhala Nation - and that two nations may agree to live
together by force of reason but cannot be compelled to live together by force of arms; and
6. Resolves that the Thimpu Declaration of July 1985
affords the only reasoned and just framework for the political settlement of the conflict
in Sri Lanka.
Resolution 2: Recognition Of Liberation Tigers Of
Tamil Eelam
Considering that a people oppressed by an alien people have
the inalienable and inherent right to engage in armed struggle against that oppression
and recognising that this right of self determination
has today become a peremptory norm of the law of nations; and
Considering that at Thimpu in Bhutan, in July 1985, the Government of Sri Lanka
participated in talks with representatives of the armed liberation organisations of the
Tamils of Eelam with a view of resolving the Tamil National question and with the declared
intention of abiding by any agreement that may be reached' and thereby recognised the legitimacy of the armed struggle of the Tamil people;
and
Welcoming the recognition given by the Government of India and the Government of Sri
Lanka in the Indo Sri Lanka Accord of July 1987 to
the armed liberation organisations of the Tamil people, by declaring them to be 'combatants' in the struggle of the Tamil people
for their basic and fundamental rights; and
Regretting the decision of the signatories to the Indo Sri Lanka Accord to call upon
the combatants to surrender their arms before securing a resolution of the central issues
of the Tamil National Struggle and before resolving the so called 'residual matters'; and
Deploring the failure of the 13th
constitutional amendment presented by the Sri Lankan Government in August 1987 to
adequately address the so called 'residual matters' and the central issues of the struggle
of the Tamil people which were crystallised in the joint
and unanimous Thimpu Declaration of July 1985; and
Welcoming the stand of Velupillai Pirabaharan and the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on the Indo Sri Lanka Accord and the 13th amendment to
the constitution and agreeing with the statement of Velupillai Pirabaharan that the set of
proposals envisaged in the Indo Sri Lanka Accord for the settlement of the Tamil National
Question has serious limitations and therefore
falls short of fulfilling the political aspirations of the Tamil people; and
Condemning the action of the Sri Lankan Government
in taking into custody leaders of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in October 1987,
after the declaration of the general amnesty, and in breach of the terms of the Indo Sri
Lanka Accord; and
Regretting the failure of the Indian Government to secure the release of the leaders of
the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam so taken into custody; and
Mourning the consequent death in custody, of these leaders; and
Condemning the subsequent widespread and
indiscriminate attack by the so called Indian Peace Keeping Force on the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam and on the Tamil people as an attempt by the Indian Government to
bend the LTTE and the Tamil people to its will and to secure their unconditional support
for the Indo Sri Lanka Accord and the 13th amendment to the constitution; and
Paying homage to the heroism of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and their leader
Velupillai Pirabaharan for their uncompromising struggle to defend the basic and fundamental rights of the Tamil people and
recognising that that heroism has become part of the
founding memories of the Tamil Nation:
This International Conference of delegates from more than one hundred Tamil
Associations from Africa, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Europe' India, Malaysia, Middle East,
Papua. New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, and the United States of
America, in expressing the considered will of the International Tamil Community on this
1st Day of May 1988
1. Recognises Velupillai Pirabaharan and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam as the
true leaders of the Tamil National Struggle; and
2. Calls upon Tamils everywhere to strengthen the capacity of the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam to further the Tamil National Struggle and to
support the efforts of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to secure the basic and
fundamental rights of the Tamil people; and
3. Calls upon the Government of India, the Government of Sri Lanka, and the other
member states of the United Nations as well as Non-Governmental Agencies with consultative
status to recognise Velupillai Pirabaharan and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam as the
true leaders of the Tamil National Struggle.
Resolution 3: Immediate Ceasefire And Negotiations
Recognising the urgent and imperative need to prevent the continued suffering of the Tamil
people in their homelands in Ceylon and recognising their fervent prayers for peace; and
Recognising that the Indo Sri Lanka Accord of
July 1987 and the 13th amendment to the Sri
Lankan constitution have failed to secure peace and normalcy in Sri Lanka; and
Considering that peace will not come to the Indian Region without justice; and
Recognising that Velupillai Pirabaharan and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have
emerged as the true leaders of the Tamil National Struggle:
This International Conference of Delegates from more than one hundred Tamil
Associations from Africa, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Europe, India, Malaysia, Middle East,
Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, and the United States of
America in expressing the Considered u ill of the International Tamil Community, on this
1st Day of May 1988
1. Calls upon the Government of India, and the Government of Sri Lanka for an immediate
cessation of hostilities and to accede to the request of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam for an immediate cease-fire; and
2. Calls upon the Government of India, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the
Government of Sri Lanka to agree on the constitution of an independent, impartial and
mutually acceptable monitoring committee to monitor the cease-fire agreement; and
3. Calls upon the Government of India, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the
Government of Sri Lanka to commence and conclude negotiations during the period of such
cease-fire, with a view to reaching a political settlement of the conflict in Sri Lanka on
the basis of the reasoned framework of the Thimpu
Declaration which express the joint and unanimous will of the Tamil people.
Resolution 4: Secure The Life Of Velupillai
Pirabaharan
Paying homage to the heroism of Velupillai Pirabaharan, the leader of the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam, for his uncompromising struggle to defend the basic and fundamental
rights of the Tamil people as crystallised in the Thimpu Declaration; and
Condemning the action of the Government of Sri Lanka in offering a reward of one
million rupees for the capture of Velupillai Pirabaharan, dead or alive, and deploring the
support given by the Government of India to such action:
This International Conference of Delegates from more than one hundred Tamil
Associations from Africa, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Europe, India, Malaysia, Middle East,
Papua New Guinea, Philippines Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom and the United States of
America, in expressing the considered will of the International Tamil community on this
1st day of May 1988
1. Calls upon the Government of India and the Government of Sri Lanka to recognise that
Velupillai Pirabaharan has today become the living symbol of the Tamil National Struggle
and to further recognise that living symbols will not die; and
2. Calls upon the Government of India and the Government of Sri Lanka to recognise that
peace will not come to the Indian Region without justice; and
3. Therefore urges the Government of India and the Government of Sri Lanka to ensure
and secure the physical safety of Velupillai Pirabaharan, the true leader of the Tamil
national struggle.
Resolution 5: Political Asylum For Tamil Refugees
Considering that the elected President of Sri Lanka declared publicly in July 1983 that
he was no longer concerned with the lives or opinion of the Tamil people; and
Considering that the Tamils have suffered increasingly
widespread persecution in Sri Lanka during the past decade, and that such persecution
included extra judicial killings, torture, state- sponsored
arson and looting of Tamil homes and businesses, and arbitrary arrest and imprisonment
under the Prevention of Terrorism Act; and
Considering that the International Commission of Jurists in a statement to members of
the UN Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, in
1983, urged that the Government of Sri Lanka "should demonstrate its commitment to
the Rule of Law through repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act which violates Sri
Lanka's international obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights to which it is a party"; and
Considering that the provisions of the Prevention of Terrorism Act were described by
the Chairman of British Justice in 1984 as `'a blot
on the statute book of any civilised country"; and
Considering that the United Kingdom Parliamentary Human Rights Group concluded in 1985
that the "Tamil minority (in Sri Lanka) is under threat" and considering that
the Working Group at the second consultation of the Standing International Forum on Ethnic
Conflict, Development and Human Rights declared in the Netherlands in 1986 that there was
a "general
consensus that within Sri Lanka the Tamils do not have the protection of law";
and
Considering that Amnesty International, in 1984,
1985, 1986
and 1987, repeatedly expressed its grave concern
to the Government of Sri Lanka at the continued extrajudicial killings, torture and
disappearances of Tamils in Sri Lanka; and
Considering that the International Human Rights
Law Group in Washington concluded in 1985 that the failure to punish security force
personnel implicated in violence seriously compromises Sri Lanka's international
obligations and its domestic law; and
Considering that despite repeated appeals from International Human Rights bodies such
as Amnesty International, the International Commission of Jurists, and from regional
organisations concerned with the protection of human rights such as Lawasia, the Government of Sri Lanka failed to
order independent investigations into reports of torture, extrajudicial killings and
disappearances of Tamils in Sri Lanka, and considering that such failure added to Tamil
fears of persecution in Sri Lanka; and
Considering that the 6th Amendment to
the Sri Lankan Constitution in 1983 rendered it illegal for any Tamil to directly or
indirectly, peacefully or otherwise, engage in any activity connected with the
establishment of a separate state and thereby sought to persecute the Tamils of Sri Lanka
for expressing their political beliefs, and considering that the International Commission
of Jurists declared in 1984 that the said 6th Amendment
was a violation of Article 25 of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights
and a violation by Sri Lanka of its obligations under the said Covenant; and
Considering that the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of
July 1987 failed to secure the repeal of the Prevention
of Terrorism Act and the 6th
Amendment to the Constitution, and considering that such failure added to Tamil fears
of continued persecution in Sri Lanka; and
Considering that despite the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of July 1987, Amnesty International
concluded in September 1987 that there was "considerable uncertainty about the safety
of Tamils in Sri Lanka", and
Considering that on the 10th October 1987, a
widespread and indiscriminate attack was launched by the so-called Indian Peace Keeping
Force on the Tamils in the North and East of Sri Lanka and on the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam, who had been recognised by the Indo-Sri
Lanka Accord as 'Combatants' and considering that the purpose of such war was to
secure the unconditional acceptance by the Tamil people of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of
July 1987; and
Considering that in the course of such war the so-called Indian Peace Keeping Force
acted in breach of the rules of international law
governing the conduct of war and killed, tortured and raped
Tamil civilians, destroyed Tamil civilian homes
and hospitals and killed Tamil combatants instead of taking them prisoners of war and
considering that the Tamil people and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have
steadfastly refused to signify their unconditional acceptance of the Indo Sri Lanka Accord
of July 1987 and considering that the so-called Indian Peace Keeping Force continues to
wage war in the Tamil homelands to the present day and that such war has rendered it
impossible for Tamils to live freely in their homelands without fear of persecution; and
Considering that during the past five years more than 125,000 Tamils from Sri Lanka have sought refuge in India, around 50,000 have sought refuge
in Europe and thousands more in Australia, Canada, the United States and in many other
lands; and recognising that such Tamils fear that if they return to Sri Lanka they will be
persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality or membership of a particular social
group or political opinion and in addition will become civilian victims in the war waged
by the so-called Indian Peace Keeping Force; and recognising that their fear includes fear
of arbitrary arrest and detention under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, fear of capture,
torture and extrajudicial killing both by the so called Indian Peace Keeping Force and by
the Sri Lankan State Security forces, and fear of arrest and deprivation of property under
the provisions of the 6th Amendment to the Constitution and recognising that by any and
every test their fear is well founded:
This International Conference of Delegates from more than one hundred Tamil
Associations from Africa, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Europe, India, Malaysia, Middle East,
Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka the United Kingdom and the United States of
America, in expressing the considered will of the International Tamil community, on the
1st day of May 1988
1. Calls upon the member states of the United Nations, including the Governments of the
United Kingdom, Italy, France, Switzerland, the Federal Republic of Germany, Denmark,
Norway, Australia, Canada, the United States of America, and India as well as
non-governmental agencies with consultative status to recognise that every Tamil from Sri
Lanka who has sought asylum as a refugee has a prima facie right to refugee status and to
the protection of International Humanitarian law as such refugee; and
2. Calls upon the member states of the United Nations, including the Governments of the
United Kingdom, Italy, France, Switzerland, The Federal Republic of Germany, Denmark,
Norway, Australia, Canada, the United States of America, and India to grant to every
claimant for refugee status the right to an impartial and fair determination of his or her
claim subject to a right of appeal against a negative decision to an independent review
body; and
3. Requests that, pending the final determination of a claim for refugee status, in
accordance with the principles of natural justice, the member states of the United
Nations, including the Governments of the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Switzerland, the
Federal Republic of Germany, Denmark, Norway, Australia, Canada, the United States of
America, and India refrain from returning any Tamil who has sought refugee status to Sri
Lanka against his or her will.
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