Post UNHRC Resolution and the Banning of Diaspora Organisations

Visvanathan Sivam for Salem-News.com-Apr08-2014 The LTTE no longer exists, said Fred arver, cam!aign director at the Sri Lan"a am!aign for #eace and $%stice. The &overnment of Sri Lan"a's attem!ts to !retend otherwise are !art of their attem!ts to stifle domestic dissent and isolate activists. ()EL*+,-NE. - The ,nited States /m0assador Sison $. )ichele1s remar"s to the Foreign orres!ondents /ssociation on /!ril 2, 3456, that altho%gh the recentl7 !assed resol%tion on Sri Lan"a at the &eneva session wanted to investigate incidents 0etween 3443 and 3448, 9an inde!endent and credi0le investigation into all actions, 07 all !arties, for the entire !eriod of the conflict wo%ld 0e good for Sri Lan"a1. There have 0een man7 :%estions a0o%t wh7 the time frame of the investigation was limited to this !eriod. ;t is not 0eca%se the international comm%nit7 onl7 cares a0o%t what ha!!ened 0etween 3443 and 3448. ;n fact, an inde!endent and credi0le investigation into all actions, 07 all !arties, for the Sison J. Michele photo: srilanka.usembassy.gov entire !eriod of the conflict wo%ld 0e good for Sri Lan"a. #/1s Exec%tive <irector <r. #ai"iasoth7 Saravanam%tt%'s view on the ,N=- 1s resol%tion on Sri Lan"a and its im!lications for the co%ntr7 is ex!lained in the so%nd clo%d 0elow. ;n terms of the fallo%t in Sri Lan"a ; thin" we've had a ver7 definite foretaste when Father #raveen and -%"i were detained, $e7a"%mari is still in detention, there were a whole lot of cordon and search o!erations in the Vanni and even more detentions, so clearl7 the government intends to do a n%m0er of things. The first thing is to ens%re that the flow of information o%tside with regard to !ast and contin%ing violations is c%rtailed to the !oint of extinction> https://soundcloud.com/cpasrilanka/interview-on-unhrc-resolution /s <r.Saravanam%tth% said in the so%nd clo%d sixteen Tamil organisations and n%mero%s individ%als were 0anned 07 the Sri Lan"%n government as 0eing connected with LTTE. /nal7sts said the aim of the 0an was to effectivel7 m%??le h%man rights gro%!s within Sri Lan"a and !%nish dias!ora organi?ations that aided the ,N1s in:%iries ahead of the o%ncil1s vote. Saravanam%tt% f%rther said the o0@ective of the 0an was to !revent the flow of

information, internationall7, regarding the h%man rights sit%ation in the co%ntr7 at !resent and to de-legitimi?e the involvement of these 0anned organi?ations with the investigation that will follow !%rs%ant to the =%man -ights o%ncil resol%tion. The 0an is a ver7 serio%s and negative develo!ment, effectivel7 criminali?ing legitimate democratic dissent within Sri Lan"a and ma"ing it harder to challenge government !olicies from o%tside the island, said /lan Aeenan, Sri Lan"a #ro@ect <irector and Senior /nal7st at the ;nternational risis &ro%!. ;t a!!ears designed in !art to !%nish those Tamils inside and o%tside Sri Lan"a who organi?ed in s%!!ort of the ,N=- resol%tion. BCThe 0anD ma7 also 0e designed to ma"e it more diffic%lt for activists within Sri Lan"a to gather and disseminate information a0o%t alleged war crimes and other h%man rights violations, since m%ch of the information that has emerged over the !ast five 7ears has come thro%gh dias!ora networ"s, said Aeenan. /ccording to statements 07 government s!o"esmen, sim!l7 meeting or interacting with mem0ers of the newl7 0anned dias!ora organi?ations wo%ld 0e eno%gh for Sri Lan"an citi?ens to 0e arrested %nder the #revention of Terrorism /ct (#T/., said Aeenan. The #T/ is alread7 reg%larl7 %sed for ar0itrar7 and often long-lasting detentions of the government's !olitical o!!onents. -ights monitors have made re!eated calls on the government to re!eal the #T/. =%ndreds of @o%rnalists, o!!osition !olitical leaders and se!aratist s%s!ects have 0een !%nished over the 7ears %nder the 58E8 law. ;n some cases, those detained have lang%ished in remand for 5F 7ears or more witho%t trial. Last month, several !rominent rights activists were detained %nder !rovisions of the #T/. Saravanam%tt% said that the 0anned organi?ations were 07 no means homogeno%s and that stirring %! tal" of a revived LTTE movement amo%nted to scaremongering. Some of the gro%!s have s7m!athies and lin"s to the LTTE and CareD o!enl7 secessionist in their goals, he said. There are others who are moderates and 07 no means s%!!ortive of a secessionist agenda. To l%m! them all together s%ggests either an ignorance of dias!ora !olitics or a deli0erate attem!t to 0rand them all as LTTE and extremists. ;n an7 event, this is contrar7 to reconciliation and sends a message that the LTTE is act%all7 alive and constit%tes some sort of threat, he said. The LTTE no longer exists, said Fred arver, cam!aign director at the Sri Lan"a am!aign for #eace and $%stice. The &overnment of Sri Lan"a's attem!ts to !retend otherwise are !art of their attem!ts to stifle domestic dissent and isolate activists. Since the end of the war a n%m0er of the 0anned gro%!s have made clear their commitment to non-violence, said Aeenan. ;f the government has s!ecific and credi0le evidence that an7 of the gro%!s or their leaders were in an7 wa7 involved in financing or enco%raging !olitical violence or terrorism, the7 sho%ld ma"e that evidence !%0lic and share it with law enforcement a%thorities in those co%ntries where the gro%!s o!erate, he said. The fact the Sri Lan"an government hasn't done this lends weight to the wides!read 0elief that the 0an is a !olitical attac" on the government's Tamil critics, rather than a legitimate res!onse to a gen%ine threat. The organi?ations 0anned incl%de the *ritish Tamil For%m, anadian Tamil ongress, /%stralian Tamil ongress, Transnational &overnment of Tamil Eelam, Tamil -eha0ilitation +rgani?ation, Tamil oordinating ommittee, Gorld Tamil )ovement, &lo0al Tamil For%m, National o%ncil of anadian Tamils, Tamil National o%ncil, Tamil Ho%th +rgani?ation, Gorld Tamil oordinating ommittee, Tamil Eelam #eo!le1s /ssem0l7, Gorld Tamil -elief

F%nd and the =ead:%arters &ro%! and the LTTE. The s%0stantial effect of an order %nder this reg%lation is that all f%nds, assets and economic reso%rces 0elonging to or owned 07 the designated !ersons or entities remain fro?en %ntil the7 are removed from the designated list, said a statement from Sri Lan"a1s )inistr7 of External /ffairs. )oving, transferring or dealing with fro?en assets witho%t the !ermission of the com!etent a%thorit7 is !rohi0ited. ;n terms of the reg%lation, an7 !erson who fails to com!l7 with an order to free?e assets is lia0le to heav7 !enalties. The ministr7 official did not ex!lain how Sri Lan"a, a tin7 island, wo%ld enforce their 0an. =ow man7 governments are there in the world that wo%ld !a7 heed to their 0anI Still there are !eo!le who insist that some form of enforcement is !ossi0le. S%ranimal #eiris, a olom0o0ased !ro-government activist said that the 0an is a !ositive ste! toward com0ating terrorism in Sri Lan"a and a0road, adding that host co%ntries sho%ld investigate and monitor the activities of the 0anned organi?ations. =e still 0elieves, in s!ite of the ,N=resol%tion on 3E )arch 3456 against SL, there are co%ntries who will tr%st their 0an, as the Gest and ;ndia did d%ring the )a7 3448 )%llivaai""al &enocide. )eanwhile, Saravanam%tt% said that a lasting resol%tion to the co%ntr7's long-r%nning tensions 0etween minorit7 Tamils and the Sinhalese-dominated government co%ld onl7 0e achieved thro%gh a !olic7 of engagement. The government m%st s!ea" to Tamils, whether the7 are here or not, and engage with them to get their ideas to achieve reconciliation, he said. That is a far cr7 from what an average Sinhalese has in his mindJ he will never settle for an7thing short of a Sinhala-*%ddhist co%ntr7 with Tamils hanging on them li"e cree!ers. &ordon Geiss is the a%thor of The ageK The Fight for Sri Lan"a and the Last <a7s of the Tamil Tigers, and who an ad@%nct !rofessor at &riffith ,niversit7 said that Foreign )inister $%lie *isho! o%tlined a 0elief that engagement with the Sri Lan"an government was the 0est wa7 to achieve reconciliation, and that government reconstr%ction in Tamil areas had not 0een s%fficientl7 recognised. B;t is an odd ex!lanation, a"in to sa7ing that reconciliation 0etween /0originals and white /%stralia co%ld 0e 0est achieved 07 0%ilding roads and 0ridges, and ignoring dee!l7 held comm%nal 0eliefs a0o%t in@%stice.B Similarl7, 0%ilding roads and 0ridges ma7 im!ress visitors, 0%t it will not redeem the in@%stices committed against the Tamils. The Sri Lan"an government is extremel7 deceitf%l. None of the !eo!le who visit the villages and interact with the !eo!le, es!eciall7 the dis!laced ones are im!ressed 07 the develo!ments SL did for the Tamils. The roads and 0ridges ma7 facilitate the eas7 movement of the militar7 and the to%rists, 0%t what good does it do to to the ;<#s, who are waiting to go 0ac" to their homesI -ight now the militar7 is occ%!7ing their lands and their !ro!erties. Soon the7 will 0e transferred to migrating Sinhalese with the Tamils still waiting for their !ro!erties.The militar7 o!erates resta%rants, farms and fishing with the hel! of their relatives and sell their !rod%ce 0elow mar"et !rice, so that the Tamils cannot com!ete with them. /ll these will not meet the e7e of a cas%al visitor.