Contents:

12 March 2005: Killings Mount in Sri Lanka as LTTE tours Europe

06 October, 2004: Human Rights organisations urge LTTE to end killings & recruitment of child soldiers

16 th August 2004 European Commission’s Delegation to Sri Lanka Press Statement after Visit to Kilinochchi 

This is the Stop the Political Killings Campaign Page of the Sri Lanka Democracy Forum.

SLDF will closely follow the situation around political killings in Sri Lanka. It hopes that voicing the fears of people under threat and reporting the various atrocities will contribute to stopping political killings.

 

1 May 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sivaram’s Murder and the Need for an Independent International Commission of Inquiry

The Sri Lanka Democracy Forum denounces in the strongest possible terms the abduction and murder of journalist Dharmaretnam Sivaram, also known as Taraki. It is the latest in a long line of such abductions and killings; a climate of total impunity prevails and attacks on freedom of expression go unchecked. If this continues the effects on our attempts to achieve peace with democracy will be devastating and the future is filled with grim foreboding and appears bleak. Some of the most capable Tamils of different political persuasions, from many walks of life but all with a desire for independent political self-expression are being wiped out.

Sivaram was a well-known journalist, a vocal exponent of the LTTE’s point of view with many international contacts. Not only was he a regular columnist in an English-language daily newspaper; he has also been writing extensively in Tamil-language daily newspapers under several aliases. He was also a livewire behind the pro-LTTE TamilNet website.

Sivaram’s killing is widely commented on in the local and international press. The Sri Lankan government ordered an immediate investigation into his murder, just as it had done when LTTE leader Kaushalyan was killed in February. But the deaths of too many journalists before him have gone unpunished, and too many murders of those less prominent have been chalked up to “internecine violence” and forgotten.

At least three other journalists have been killed in the past year. Ayathurai Nadesan, Batticaloa correspondent for ‘Virakesari’ was shot and killed by the Karuna faction in May 2004. In August 2004, LTTE gunmen in Colombo killed Bala Nadarajah Iyer a journalist with ‘Thinamurasu’ and ‘Thinakaran’, and a senior member of the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP). On March 7, Sathasivam Kamalanathan age 26 of Ariyampathy, Batticaloa, another correspondent ‘Thinamurasu’ was abducted and killed by the LTTE near the Manmunai jetty.

The number of dissenting political party members killed continues to climb. Just the day before Sivaram was killed on 28 April, Murugesu Varatharajah aged 40, a member of the EPRLF (Pathmanabha) who was living at the Paddy Marketing Board camp for tsunami displaced was shot and killed in Kallady.

A terrible pattern of abductions has also developed, often followed by torture to extract information and murder. Most of the victims are relatively unknown. A few victims are more prominent: On April 20, T. Jeyaratnam, a Tamil Police Inspector with the Terrorist Investigations Unit of the Mt. Lavinia Police was abducted in Colombo. He remains missing and his wife has accused the LTTE. In November 2004 the LTTE abducted Pakianathan Rajaratnam, also known as ‘Mano Master’, General Secretary of the Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front (ENDLF), allegedly to get information about Karuna’s whereabouts.

Even non-partisan Tamil senior government officials have become victims of this campaign of murder. Thiyagarajah Kailainathan, a senior official from the Ministry of Vocational Education was shot dead by suspected LTTE pistol gang members on 4 April, at Kathankudi in Batticaloa. On April 15, Divisional Secretary for Thirukkovil in eastern Sri Lanka, Mr. A. K Thavarajah, was shot dead when he was returning to his residence after attending to his official duties. This murder too has been attributed to the LTTE by well-placed local sources.

The Sri Lankan government and the international community would appear to have turned their backs on most such victims. The LTTE and its supporters have encouraged this negligence by implying their victims’ involvement in armed activity and labelled them as belonging to “para-militaries”. In fact, nearly all of the victims apart from those killed in armed combat are unarmed defenceless civilians – farmers, labourers or bureaucrats. Some of them were part of or had some affiliation with armed groups in the past. Civilians have been caught between powerful, armed forces for more than two decades of conflict in Sri Lanka’s north and east; it is difficult to imagine that there is any individual who has not interacted with some armed actor. Similarly, neither Sivaram’s past in the People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), his affiliation with the LTTE or even his rationalization of the LTTE’s political killings in anyway justifies his abduction and killing. It should be noted that the Tamil media in particular is not innocent; it has been guilty of targeting dissenters, justifying political killings and promoting a culture of fear. But these are questions of journalistic ethics that have to be challenged and debated, not addressed with the gun.

Every person who values free expression, more so who values human life itself is right to condemn the assassination of Sivaram. But for the LTTE to do so is hypocritical in the extreme when it has sanctioned and carried out hundreds of such abductions and assassinations, even after it subscribed to the ceasefire. The ceasefire has thus been rendered meaningless and ineffective as far as the Tamil community is concerned. If as it proclaims it is committed to the ceasefire and the peace process, the LTTE, being the most powerful armed military group operating in Sri Lanka, must call a halt to its continuing campaign of politically motivated murders.

The international community must press an immediate end to the violence. As far as the LTTE is concerned, the international community should back up its demand and apply appropriate sanctions, such as those recommended by the UN Secretary General to end the LTTE’s recruitment of child soldiers. These include: the imposition of travel restrictions on LTTE leaders; their exclusion from governance structures and amnesty provisions; the imposition of arms embargoes, a ban on military assistance, and restriction on the flow of financial resources.

If allegations of security forces’ involvement in Sivaram’s murder are correct, this is a deeply worrying shift in the role of the Sri Lankan state during the ceasefire for all those concerned about human rights in Sri Lanka. If Sivaram’s murder goes unchecked and the perpetrators are not brought to justice, it may also open the window for a repetition of the Sri Lankan State’s horrible history of extra-judicial killings and violence against minority activists. The government must be pressured to deploy its law and order agencies to prevent killings taking place in areas under its control, to carry out rigorous investigations, and take effective action to bring the perpetrators to justice. International assistance in carrying out this mission is urgently needed, including through the deployment of independent international human rights monitors.

The current reality demands an investigative mechanism that will address all complaints with equal seriousness, not just those that attract international attention, or threaten the relationship between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government. This mechanism must have adequate powers to conduct full and impartial criminal-style investigations leading to the arrest and prosecution of perpetrators. The government must authorise and seek international support for the immediate creation of an independent investigative commission into all alleged political killings and abductions since the ceasefire came into effect, regardless of the social position, occupation or alleged political affiliation of the victims. Regardless of the character and identity of the victim, the scale of the political violence and the climate of fear it continues to create are a direct threat to dissent and democratisation of the Tamil community. An independent international investigative commission will be the first step to address what is becoming an increasingly bleak future for human rights and democracy in Sri Lanka.

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12 March 2005 For Immediate Release:

Killings Mount in Sri Lanka

The current visit to European capitals by LTTE leaders coincides with another spike in political killings at home that has led to speculation that Sri Lanka is once again headed towards war. At the very least the violence is greatly increasing the insecurity of civilians and inhibiting reconstruction in eastern Sri Lanka where at least eleven people (nearly all opponents of the LTTE) have been slain since March 5. The stated goal of the European visit is to negotiate a joint mechanism with the Sri Lankan government to deal with the tsunami crisis. But the LTTE’s concurrent campaign of killings and repeated threats to return to war seem to present grave contradictions.

Both the LTTE and its rival faction, headed by former LTTE eastern commander Karuna have been responsible for attacks on their perceived opponents in recent months. As many as 20 LTTE opponents and civilians including Muslims civilians have been killed since January. The scale of the LTTE’s losses is difficult to assess as the LTTE is far from transparent in this regard, but prominent victims include Batticaloa-Ampara political wing leader E. Kaushalyan, who was killed in February along with four others, and Batticaloa-Ampara women’s political wing leader Kuveni, suffered serious injuries in a shooting on February 28 that also injured two other LTTE cadres.

The current violence in eastern Sri Lanka could not be happening at a worse time, as people are suffering devastating physical and psychological effects as a result of the tsunami. As SLDF noted in January, the destruction wrought by the tsunami and ensuing demands of rehabilitation require an immediate change in attitude and approach by all parties. Whether fighting recommences in a month, or six months or in two years, any accomplishments of the reconstruction effort could be destroyed in a matter of days. SLDF reiterates its call on the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE to declare an immediate, long-term moratorium on fighting of at least four years as a first step towards augmenting and ensuring a much violated CFA, and to cease all armed attacks on perceived opponents and civilians. We call on the Karuna faction to make a similar commitment to stop the violence.

The contradictions posed by the LTTE’s current actions have not been lost on European leaders, who have already expressed grave concerns. The remarks of the EU Commissioner, Benita Ferrero-Waldner in Colombo on 8th March, were clear in this regard and SLDF endorses her conclusions when she called on the LTTE to:

• renounce violence;
• respect the Ceasefire Agreement of February 2002;
• restate their commitment to the principles stated in Oslo Declaration of December 2002 to find a federal solution within a united Sri Lanka;
• stop recruitment of child soldiers;
• give breathing space in the North and East to political parties and people who have a differing opinion.

The LTTE has refused to acknowledge the apparent role of Karuna’s forces in the killings of its cadres, instead blaming the Sri Lankan Army and referring to both its attackers and its recent victims as “paramilitaries” a term used to suggest involvement in armed activity and links to state forces. The Ceasefire Agreement required all parties besides the LTTE and the government to be disarmed, and the government denies that it continues to employ such forces. Since the 2002 ceasefire over 100 of the LTTE’s opponents, including suspected military informers and opposition Tamil politicians, journalists and many other civilians have been murdered.

Under current conditions, there is no force willing or able to act effectively against the violence. This climate of impunity must be addressed. The SLMM has finally after much urging acknowledged that the LTTE’s political killings are violations of the ceasefire agreement, but has stopped short of accepting responsibility for investigating them, saying it remains a matter for the police. SLDF reiterates its demand for independent human rights monitoring in the north and east, and for prompt and thorough investigation of all suspected political killings, regardless of the identity of the suspected perpetrator. This suggests the need for a new or expanded mechanism with adequate powers to conduct full and impartial criminal-style investigations leading to the arrest and prosecution of perpetrators.

The LTTE's European visit is an ideal opportunity for policymakers to press home to the LTTE the urgent necessity to stop the violence and thereby to ensure that the reconstruction so badly needed in Sri Lanka's north and east has a chance. In the longer run, and in accord with recommendations made by both the EU and the United Nations, Sri Lanka should be urged to sign and ratify the Rome Statute of International Criminal Court as a deterrent against future war crimes and crimes against humanity, including both atrocities against civilians, and recruitment and use of child soldiers.

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PRESS RELEASE 6 October 2004 IMMEDIATE

SRI LANKA: HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANISATIONS URGE VISITING TAMIL TIGER DELEGATION TO END KILLINGS & RECRUITMENT OF CHILD SOLDIERS

At a meeting with a senior Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) delegation visiting Geneva,Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) calledon the LTTE to end political killings and the recruitment of child soldiers and demonstrate how they will respect international humanitarian and human rights law in Sri Lanka.

The LTTE delegation, headed by S.P. Thamilselvan, leader of their political wing, is visiting several European countries to consider the Tamil Tigers next steps in the stalled Sri Lankan peace process.International human rights organisations met with the LTTE delegation on Tuesday 5 October.

“We appealed to the senior LTTE leaders to show the world that they are both willing and capable ofrespecting the lives and rights of all Sri Lankans,” said Nicholas Howen, Secretary-General of the ICJ.“We look to them to make a clear public commitment to international humanitarian and human rights standards and practical ways of putting them into effect,” he added.

“At a time when we should be moving back to peace talks the LTTE seems to have dramatically escalated the killing of perceived Tamil opponents and is still recruiting child soldiers,” said LoubnaFreih, Geneva Director for Human Rights Watch.

Victims of killings have included activists from Tamil political parties not aligned with the LTTE,members of a rival LTTE faction in the east, and alleged Sri Lankan military informants.

“This climate of fear, especially in the east will make it even more difficult to find a lasting peace inthe country,” warned Peter Splinter, Geneva Representative for Amnesty International.

S.P. Thamilselvan said in the meeting with human rights organisations that the LTTE deniesresponsibility for such killings but that the LTTE would consider the development of confidencebuilding measures to end killings that are threatening the peace process.

In the last two weeks reported killings have included: Valli Suntharam, a 61 year old trade unionactivist and member of the Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), shot dead inJaffna on 27 September; Selvarajah Mohan, a 22 year old Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) supporter, stabbed to death after being taken from his home in Jaffna district on 24 September;Rajadurai Sivagnanam, killed in Batticaloa district on 22 September; and SomasundaramVarunakulasingham, a central committee member of the EPDP, shot dead in Colombo on 23 September.

Recruitment of child soldiers also continues. UNICEF has documented that in May, June and July 2004 alone, the LTTE recruited 259 children, while releasing 106 – and UNICEF acknowledges thatthey learn about only a small proportion of child recruitment.

The human rights organisations also met with members of the Northeast Secretariat on Human Rights,set up in July with the support of the LTTE. “Such human rights initiatives could be positive if theyhelp to prevent serious human rights violations and give ordinary people a way of seeking protection and remedies,” said Nicholas Howen. “We urge the LTTE to affirm publicly that they will cooperatefully with this Secretariat. The international community should assist any genuine moves towards aculture of respect for rights and the need for this new Secretariat to be independent and professional,” added Nicholas Howen.

For further information, please contact ISABELLE HEYER at International Commission of Jurists +41-22-9793800, LOUBNA FREIH at Human Rights Watch +41-79-2023285 or PETER SPLINTERat Amnesty International, +41-22-9069483.

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-Press Statement-

Issued by the office of the European Commission’s Delegation to Sri Lanka 16 th August 2004

EU – Troika Visit to Kilinochchi

On Monday the 16 th of August 2004, the local EU Troika, comprising the EU Presidency, the Ambassador of The Netherlands Her Excellency Mrs. Susan Th. Blankhart, and the High Commissioner of United Kingdom, His Excellency Mr. Stephen Evans, and the Chargé d’Affaires of the European Commission, Mr. Wouter Wilton, met Mr. Thamilchelvam, Head of the Political Wing of the LTTE, in Kilinochchi, to discuss the progress in the peace process.

The meeting was constructive and dealt with the following matters, which were discussed in a frank and open manner.

The EU has throughout the conflict emphasised the importance of the respect for human rights. The killing of political opponents is a breach of fundamental human rights. There is no excuse for such violence, which can never resolve the internal differences in Sri Lanka.Child recruitment by the LTTE, which is also regarded as a breach of fundamental human rights, is an issue of continued concern of the EU. The EU wishes to reiterate the points that Commissioner Patten raised in his discussion with the LTTE in November 2003 on good governance, pluralism, human rights and democracy. These are the cornerstones of a settlement for an everlasting peace in Sri Lanka. They are important too for the LTTE to obtain recognition as a political player in Sri Lanka.

The EU is concerned and alarmed about the recent increase in political killings and the inability of the LTTE to solve internal differences in a peaceful manner. Since the cease-fire agreement was signed between the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE a series of murders, attempted murders and abductions of civilians took place. In July the suicide attack and the killing of political opponents in Colombo and the brutal killings in Jaffna and in the East have shocked Sri Lanka and the international community

Despite promising signs in April, that the LTTE was taking serious its pledge to release the children in its ranks, recruitment has been accelerated both in the North and East during the last couple of months. The EU supports the efforts of UNICEF to return these children to their homes.

These killings, abductions and child recruitment are not conducive to an atmosphere in which peace negotiations can be restarted. The EU urges the LTTE to restrain itself from any action that might provoke disruption of the cease-fire and allow unimpeded continuation of the activities of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission.

The EU urges the LTTE and the Sri Lankan Government to put the interests and wishes of the people of Sri Lanka for a permanent peace settlement first, by returning to the negotiating table and call upon the LTTE for the earliest resumption of peace talks, which have been suspended by the LTTE since April last year. We urge the LTTE to continue to work towards the restart of substantive talks. Only through dialogue can there be a negotiated settlement to the conflict. A return to the peace table, along with a strict adherence to the terms of the cease-fire agreement and full respect for human rights, are essential to sustain the peace process for the benefit of all ethnic communities in Sri Lanka.

The EU wishes to reiterate that the peace process and the development process are mutually reinforcing and inter-linked, as agreed in the Tokyo Conference last year.

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13 August 2004, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

LTTE’s Campaign to Eliminate Dissidents Must Be Stopped

The situation in the North and East of Sri Lanka is growing steadily worse. The Sri Lanka Democracy Forum (SLDF) is now receiving information of new killings, attacks and abductions of the LTTE’s suspected opponents on an almost daily basis. Since April there have been more than 40 such murders. It is essential that the government of Sri Lanka and the international community act now to prevent further bloodshed and protect the lives of Tamil political activists now hunted by LTTE death squads.

We must also act. Sri Lankans of all communities bear a special responsibility to reject leadership that condones violence, and to refuse our support and cooperation to forces intent on destroying democracy. We must demand an end to the LTTE’s violent oppression.

The LTTE has launched a major campaign to discredit and attack its opponents. Its strategy has been to label all dissenting Tamil political parties as “paramilitaries,” suggesting their involvement in violence and thus attempting to justify them as targets for elimination. All the killings are clearly violations of the cease-fire agreement the LTTE signed with the Sri Lankan government in February 2002, but the LTTE has been able to kill with impunity. By lumping together its primary armed opponent, dissident LTTE leader Karuna and his loyalists, with political parties such as the EPDP, EPRLF(V) and PLOTE, which under the ceasefire agreement have been disarmed, the LTTE has discouraged sympathy for its victims and deflected international attention from its murderous campaign. The assassination attempt against EPDP head Douglas Devananda on 7 July was one highly publicized example. Other attacks such as the murder of 52-year old mother, Velliayan Chitra of Sittandy near Eravur have received less attention. She was shot on 6 August, at about 11:30 pm by members of LTTE for having helped her son to escape.

July and August have proved to be a particularly deadly time for LTTE’s opponents and those who are critical of the LTTE’s repressive politics and terror tactics. The three recent murders below point to the frequency of killings that have paralyzed civil society in the East.

• EPDP member A. Ramanee Thirugnanam, alias “Pandiyan”, aged 39 was shot and killed by a suspected LTTE gunman in Trincomalee town on the evening of 10 August. The next day on August 11th a grenade was thrown near his house to discourage people from participating in his funeral
• On the same night, on August 10th in Kalawanchikudy, LTTE cadres shot and killed a thirty-nine year old farmer, Sinnathamby Yogarasa, a former member of EPRLF. He was the father of four children.
• A few hours later, at about 1:45 am on 11 August, Sivrajah Sivaseelan, of Vembu colony, Kalmadu, age 28 and manager of the Kiran Multi Purpose Cooperative Society was found shot to death in Kiran. He was taken for questioning by armed LTTE cadres on the previous day.

In the absence of any significant pressure to stop such killings, the killers have become very bold. The murder of eight key Karuna supporters in a residential suburb of Colombo on 24 July demonstrated the LTTE’s ability to reach even their most protected opponents. On 31 July Kandiah Yogarasa (Mohan), a former PLOTE member was assassinated in broad daylight on a busy street in the heart of Colombo. These attacks have greatly increased the prevailing climate of fear in the Tamil community and further crippled dissent.

The LTTE has also revived its practice of holding public executions. On 8 July, the LTTE executed two men, Thillaiampalam Sunthararajan and Balasundaram Sritharan. Their bodies were found blindfolded and shackled. The LTTE acknowledged responsibility for these public executions, saying that the two men had been sentenced to death as “traitors” aligned with Karuna, and asking members of the Tamil community to identify others in their midst.

To date there has been no serious response from the Sri Lankan government or the international community, which remain almost solely focused on the possibility of renewed peace talks. But fortunately, opinion is beginning to shift as more informed observers in Sri Lanka recognize the terrible trajectory of violence, and reject the notion that the LTTE’s Tamil on Tamil killings can be written off as an ‘internal affair’. SLDF welcomes the recent statement by the Colombo-based Peace Support Group (PSG) expressing deep concern over cycle of killings underway. Killings that it concludes “constitute a gross violation of the right of all Sri Lankans to hold and express a political opinion, and to live free of violence and intimidation.”

These murders are also violations of the cease-fire agreement, as the PSG points out. The CFA was intended to promote an environment conducive to peace by “bringing an end to the hostilities and improving the living conditions for all inhabitants affected by the conflict.” It prohibits all military action by the LTTE and government forces, including (but not limited to) such acts as: “the firing of direct and indirect weapons, armed raids, ambushes, assassinations, abductions, destruction of civilian or military property, sabotage, suicide missions and activities by deep penetration units.” As a “confidence-building measure” aimed at “restoring normalcy” for Sri Lanka’s inhabitants, the agreement also prohibits hostile acts against the civilian population, including such acts as torture, intimidation, abduction, extortion and harassment.

Given the escalation of violence and the lack of responsible action by those in power, it is not surprising that public confidence is waning. Long before LTTE’s eastern commander Karuna launched his rebellion, the LTTE’s violent campaign against political opponents was well underway. More than a year ago, on 8 August 2003, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch issued a strong warning that the LTTE was “taking advantage of the ceasefire with the Sri Lankan government to murder political opponents.” The groups noted “a systematic campaign by the LTTE to silence opposition voices,” and called for aggressive efforts to investigate cases of alleged political violence and prosecute perpetrators. The organisations demanded that the LTTE put an immediate stop to the killings and ensure that its members fully abide by human rights provisions in the ceasefire agreement. They also called on the LTTE to fully cooperate in any investigations conducted by the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM). None of this has happened. The killings continued as the LTTE attempted to eliminate all opposition and dissent to its quest for sole representation. Only its justification for the killings changed as it now invoked shadowy “paramilitaries” with alleged links to its rebel leader Karuna.

While the LTTE has taken advantage of the ceasefire agreement to strengthen itself throughout the North and East superimposing its authority and reach even in government controlled areas, it has displayed callous disregard to the provisions relating to human rights and humanitarian aspects of the ceasefire agreement. Furthermore, it has become clear that the SLMM is not capable of stopping the LTTE’s campaign of killings and abductions. Nor has it shown any willingness to investigate them as they occurred.

SLDF supports calls for a high-level human rights observer or fact-finding team backed by the international community. This should be seen as a first step towards a more permanent presence of international human rights monitors in Sri Lanka. The safety and security of all civilians, and in the current context particularly members of political parties opposed to the LTTE should be the priority of the Sri Lankan government and the international community.

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Latest Human Rights Watch statement on political killings:

Sri Lanka: New Killings Threaten Ceasefire

(New York, July 28, 2004)

-- A spate of killings between factions of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) threatens Sri Lanka’s ceasefire, Human Rights Watch warned today. More than a dozen people have been murdered over the last month in apparently politically motivated killings attributed either to the LTTE or a faction led by the LTTE’s former eastern commander, Colonel Karuna, who broke away from the LTTE in March 2004.

“These targeted killings sadly show that the ceasefire has not meant an end to the violence that has plagued Sri Lanka,” said James Ross, senior legal advisor for Human Rights Watch. “The LTTE and pro-Karuna forces should immediately halt these killings.  
 
The violence between the LTTE and Karuna’s group has spiraled in recent days. On July 25, police found the bodies of eight persons, most of whom were believed to be senior aides to Karuna, in a house outside the capital Colombo. They were apparently shot and killed while asleep. Police investigating the killings said that there was no evidence of crossfire or a gunfight, and that the killings appeared to have been committed by someone within the house.  
 
Even before the police were notified of the killings, the LTTE announced that these victims had been killed by “dissidents” within Karuna’s own faction, and stated further that the killers had sought and received refuge with the LTTE.  
 
“ Regardless of who perpetrated the killings, the LTTE’s open protection of criminal suspects is an affront to the rule of law and the ceasefire agreement,” said Ross. “Human Rights Watch calls on the LTTE to immediately turn them over to Sri Lankan authorities.”  
 
Human Rights Watch expressed serious concern at the recent spate of unlawful killings in and around Batticaloa, in eastern Sri Lanka. Kunjithamby Sivarasa, a local government official, was shot dead by LTTE cadres on July 9 at his home in the village of Ariyampathy. Velayutham Raveendran, a senior Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) member, a political party opposed to the LTTE, was shot by armed gunmen on a motorbike at a bus stop in Akkaraipattu town, south of Batticaloa, on July 21. More than 100 EPDP members have been killed since the February 2002 ceasefire agreement.  
 
The LTTE has claimed responsibility for the public executions of Balasuntaram Sritharan and Thillaiampalam Suntararajan on July 8 at Illupadichchai junction. Their dead bodies were found by the side of a road, blindfolded, with manacles around their ankles. The LTTE publicly stated that the two men had been sentenced to death as pro-Karuna “traitors” and called on all Sri Lankan Tamils to identify any other such “traitors.” Aiyathurai Nadesan, a Tamil journalist, was shot in Batticaloa on May 31. On May 24, Eastern University lecturer Kumaravel Thambaiah was shot and killed at his home in Batticaloa. The Karuna group is suspected in both killings. The apparent intention of such executions is to terrorize the local population and prevent the exercise of the basic rights of free association and expression.  
 
Kanapathipillai Mahendran, known as “Satchi Master,” and Sarvanamuttu Shanthakumar, were killed in Batticaloa prison by a fellow inmate and LTTE cadre on July 14. The LTTE claimed that “Satchi Master” had been campaigning for Colonel Karuna and his supporters from within the prison. The killings raise serious questions over the security and management of the prison, particularly when authorities know that members of rival groups are being held within the same building. Human Rights Watch called on the Sri Lankan authorities to explain how lethal weapons were allowed inside the prison, and to ensure that known rival factions are kept securely away from each other.  
 
In the midst of this upsurge in violence, the LTTE recently organized the NorthEast Secretariat on Human Rights (NESHOR), a body intended to promote respect for human rights.  
 
“ Unfortunately, the renewed violence makes it essential that the LTTE’s new human rights secretariat quickly demonstrates its effectiveness in protecting the rights of people in LTTE areas,” said Ross.

from http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/07/27/slanka9153.htm 

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July 8, 2004, SLDF PRESS RELEASE:

LTTE’s Suicide Bomb Attack Threatens Peace and Democracy

The Sri Lanka Democracy Forum (SLDF) strongly condemns the suicide bombing in Colombo on Wednesday, 7 July that killed four police and security personnel along with the young female bomber herself and injured several others. The bombing, which bears all the hallmarks of a typical Tamil Tiger operation, was an apparent assassination attempt against Cabinet Minister Douglas Devananda, head of the Eelam People's Democratic Party, a Tamil political party that does not toe the LTTE line.

Douglas Devananda is the only dissenting Tamil politician from the North to be elected during the parliamentary elections in April, and this assassination attempt took place while he was seeing members of the public. The election itself was marred by LTTE led political killings and massive fraud leading the EU Election Commission to characterize the elections in the North and East as the “antithesis of democracy.”

No doubt carried out by the LTTE, this bombing represents a further escalation of terror and political violence deployed by the LTTE and reflects a persistent pattern of attacks against opponents aimed at securing the LTTE’s claim to be the sole representative of the Tamil people. The LTTE-backed Tamil National Alliance’s claim that a shadowy “ third force” is behind the incident lacks credibility, and represents a cynical attempt to offer a protective cover to the LTTE against possible international condemnation.

Such attacks on Tamil dissent have, sadly, been a common phenomenon throughout the ceasefire, with both the South and the international community writing them off as “Tamil on Tamil violence”, even when some of the victims have been high-ranking government officials. This attitude is typified by the reaction to the latest suicide bombing by a government spokesman and a body that claims to campaign for the restoration of peace in Sri Lanka.

The government spokesman Harim Peiris is quoted by Reuters to have said, “ The peace process moves on entirely as usual …. It is the LTTE going after a political opponent. It is that and absolutely nothing else. It is resorting to violence to kill an opponent; it is not reverting to hostilities.”

Even more troubling is the most recent statement by the National Peace Council (NPC), which comes perilously close to justifying the attempted murder of an LTTE opponent in the interests of promoting peace: “The bombing and the loss of life which took place next to the Prime Minister's Office seems to be an inevitable outcome of the absence of single minded commitment in the pursuit of the peace process.” Rather than seeking to rationalize the failed attempted assassination of a government Minister, who happens to be a Tamil but who disagrees with the LTTE, the NPC should realize that what made the bombing inevitable is the LTTE’s continued commitment to using terror, violence and murder as instruments to assert its tyrannical hegemony. Peace talks may have given a respite to Sinhalese political leaders from being targeted for assassination. But they have not deterred the LTTE from carrying out its killing spree within the Tamil community. It was in 1989 and 1990, during the currency of peace talks with the late President Premadasa that the LTTE assassinated TULF leaders like Mr. A Amirthalingam, Mr. V Yogeswaran and Mr. Sam Thambimuthu. It was during the current ceasefire and during ongoing peace talks with the Ranil Wickramasinghe government that the LTTE gunned down EPRLF leader Subathiran on June 14, 2003. At a time when international human rights organizations have characterized “suicide bombings” as tantamount to war crimes, what one would expect from organizations such as the NPC is unreserved condemnation and a public call to the LTTE to stop committing all such crimes.

In fact, the latest bombing in Colombo is a grave violation of the Ceasefire Agreement to which the LTTE is party. Article 1.2 expressly prohibits both parties from engaging in military activities, including among other things, assassinations and suicide missions. LTTE has used such acts to destabilize the situation, and sustain the threat that if it does not get what it wants out of the peace process (for example the ISGA), it will return to war.It has also used hostile acts such as killings and conscription of children to instill fear and maintain its hold over civilians, who are led to believe they are always on the brink of war.

In many post-conflict situations policymakers attempt to draw military factions into the process of conflict resolution to ensure they do not spoil it. Parties are asked to give a commitment to eschew use of violence during the peace process. Transitional justice and other mechanisms of accountability are used to deal with the past and present human rights violations. The sad reality of the peace process in Sri Lanka is that at no time has the LTTE been forced to make a commitment to renounce its use of violence. On the contrary, the LTTE’s terror tactics have been in effect legitimized, as something it can go on practicing unchallenged.

The latest bombing came only days after Douglas Devananda announced that he was trying to bring breakaway LTTE leader Karuna into the political mainstream by extending political support. Devananda told the press: "We cannot solve the ethnic conflict through war. Even the LTTE acknowledges that Col Karuna had a major role in their military victories. Now even he wishes to join the democratic mainstream. So, I am confident that I can bring him into parliamentary politics… Though he was apart of the LTTE, with his present criticism of the Vanni leadership, he has sought redemption."

But Karuna’s faction is also a product of the LTTE ethos and must renounce its disposition to violence. SLDF univocally condemns all killings - particularly the escalation of internecine violence in the East in the last few months.

This latest incident underscores the need for a fundamental transformation of Tamil politics, to allow pluralism and to encourage parties to pursue their differences within a democratic and pluralist framework. SLDF believes that civil society has a special responsibility to reject chauvinism of all sorts including that which places a lesser value on the life of a Tamil politician. It must on the other hand, uphold human rights and seek a peace that ensures both human security and dignity. --

For further reading:

• SLDF statement of April 15
  
• SLDF statement of May 31

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The Sri Lanka Democracy Forum is a global network of activists committed to promote democratisation and inter-ethnic co-existence in Sri Lanka.
To contact the network, email: contact@lankademocracy.org