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United States & the struggle for Tamil Eelam
Tamil Americans urge Co-chairs to promote "equal partnership for peace�
"...Co- Chairs� Statement has no mention of
the threat to the peace process posed by the new President�s rejection of
every key component of the peace process espoused by the Co Chairs,
including the Oslo declaration and PTOMS agreement about tsunami aid to
North East.Inevitably, the Co- Chairs statement has been seen as a signal of
their approval to the Government to use force to enforce the status quo. The
retaliatory attacks by the military on Tamil civilians, is in part the
result of this perception. Unless the Co- Chairs take a firm stand against
such tactics, which are a violation of human rights and international law,
it will not be long before a full blown, old style �counter- insurgency�
operation is in place in the North East as well as Colombo, under which
torture was pervasive and thousands of Tamil civilians were killed or
disappeared under cover of Emergency Rule ( as documented in US State
Department reports) The new army chief, hand picked by President Rajapakse,
is well known in Jaffna as an hardline exponent of these tactics, having
served there earlier as area commander..."
Co- Chair for Norway�via Hon Ambassador for Norway ,
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Co- Chair for European Union---via Hon. Ambassador for EU, Colombo,
Sri Lanka
Co- Chair for Japan --- via Hon. Ambassador for Japan, Colombo, Sri
Lanka.
Co- chair for USA � via Hon. Ambassador for USA, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Co Chairs� Brussels statement of 12/19/05
We are submitting this memorandum jointly with
several other concerned organizations, which are listed at the end.
We welcome Co- Chairs� call for an immediate meeting of the
Government and LTTE to review the implementation of the Cease Fire
agreement (CFA), and your declaration of strong support for Norway�s
role as Facilitator. We also welcome your call, yet again, for the
Government to disarm para- militaries, as required by CFA. It is
past time to declare that further inaction will trigger serious
consequences. It is evident that there has been for several months a
concerted plan by paramilitaries and military intelligence to
assassinate Tamil leaders from the East.
Overall, however, the Statement shows a pronounced bias in favor of
the Government. It seemingly reflects more the Co- Chairs� role as
part of the so- called �international safety net�, created jointly
by the Wickremasinghe Government and some important aid Donors, more
to promote their mutual interests than a just and durable peace
based on negotiations between the Government and LTTE as equal
partners, with Norway as Facilitator, as envisaged in CFA. It is
also regrettable that Norway, the Facilitator, was a party to such
an unbalanced Statement.
The Statement also reflects a willful misreading of the Tamil
peoples deep seated feelings
about the intolerable and odious status quo in the North East.
The status quo involves not only virtually no relief, despite the
CFA, from suffering and displacements caused by the war and tsunami,
but also from the harassments and indignities, and continued
occupation of tens of thousands of homes, schools and temples, in
direct violation of the CFA, at the hands of the almost entirely
Sinhala military
The Co- Chairs seem to accept the Government�s fantasy that the
Tamil peoples� ongoing demonstrations against the odious and open
ended status quo, are simply an LTTE creation. This explains their
unreal demand that the LTTE essentially enforce the status quo,
under Co- Chairs� threat of �serious consequences�.
It also explains their allegation that the
successful Tamil boycott of the presidential election was �enforced�
by LTTE, ignoring the long history of political maturity and
activism of the Tamil people, especially in Jaffna, and a very broad
acceptance of LTTE leadership, confirmed in last parliamentary
elections. The Tamil people have learned from bitter experience
that, irrespective of which candidate is elected President, a
political solution which meets their legitimate aspirations is not
possible, within the framework of the present Constitution,
especially if the winner had a minority of Sinhala votes.
In contrast, the Co- Chairs� Statement has no mention of the threat
to the peace process posed by the
new President�s rejection of every key component of the peace
process espoused by the Co Chairs, including the Oslo
declaration and PTOMS agreement about tsunami aid to North East.
Inevitably, the Co- Chairs statement has been seen as a signal of
their approval to the Government to use force to enforce the status
quo. The retaliatory attacks by the military on Tamil civilians, is
in part the result of this perception. Unless the Co- Chairs take a
firm stand against such tactics, which are a violation of human
rights and international law, it will not be long before a full
blown, old style �counter- insurgency� operation is in place in the
North East as well as Colombo, under which
torture
was pervasive and thousands of
Tamil civilians were killed or disappeared under cover of
Emergency Rule ( as documented in US State Department reports) The
new army chief, hand picked by President Rajapakse, is well known in
Jaffna as an hardline exponent of these tactics, having served there
earlier as area commander.
If the Co- Chairs are serious in their support of full
implementation of the CFA, and in promoting a just negotiated
solution, based on the core CFA principle of �equal partnership for
peace�, they will need urgently to support the following:
Make clear to the Government that sanctions will
be imposed, unless immediate steps are put in place
to disarm para- militaries. Without significant Government
action, it is unlikely that any progress can be achieved at a
meeting between the Government and LTTE.
Also make clear that attacks on civilians by either side will
not be tolerated, and will be met with sanctions. Unless such
attacks are stopped, they will meet resistance, unlike in the
past, and will likely result into renewed war in the North East.
In order to minimize the risk of violence between
the military and civilians, and to restore homes, temples and
schools to civilians as called for in the CFA, the military needs to
be gradually withdrawn from civilian inhabited areas, beginning
immediately with the areas around the Jaffna University campus.
Resume immediately local level meetings of the military and LTTE.
Demonstrate a better understanding of the existential problems
facing the Tamil people in the North East and of their faith in the
LTTE. They should also avoid blatant acts of partisanship like their
failure to condemn the murders of senior
Tamil Parliamentarian Pararajasingham, and many other Tamil
leaders and journalists like
Kumar Ponnambalam,
Sivaram,
Kaushalyan ,
Nimalarajan etc, even as they have been quick to condemn every
alleged violation of CFA by LTTE. Ironically, many of these murders
may well have been avoided if the Co- Chairs had taken a firm
position with the Government on disarming of paramilitaries.
World Tamil Coordinating Committee � USA
Illankai Tamil Sangam � USA
World Tamil Women Organization � USA
Federation of Tamil Association of North America (FeTNA)� USA
Center for Women�s Development and Rehabilitation � USA
Tamil Heritage International � USA
Illankai Tamil Sangam - Florida
World Tamil Organization - Illinois
Midwest Tamil Sangam - Illinois
Ohio Tamil Association - Ohio
Tamil Refugees Rehabilitation Organization - California
Illankai Tamil Sangam - California
Illankai Tamil Sangam - Vancouver-Portland � Washington
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