Premechandran urges general amnesty

for
Tamil detainees

Eelam Peoples Revolutionary Front Leader and TNA member Suresh Premechandran

Friday, 27 November 2015

I dont see any difference between the Janatha Vimukthi
Peramuna (JVP) and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) both
were armed militants. Both organisations wanted to liberate their
people, stresses Leader of the Eelam Peoples Revolutionary Front
and member of Tamil National Alliance Suresh Premechandran.
If a general amnesty was granted to the JVP, why cant the
Government do the same with Tamil detainees? After all both
groups were involved in an armed intrusion, Premechandran

pointed out.
How do you separate these two parties? he queries, adding,
The JVP wanted to liberate
Sri Lanka for the Sinhala people. The LTTE wanted to liberate the
Tamil people and therefore wanted a separate State. Both were
armed militants. You can brand the LTTE as terrorists but Tamils
brand them as liberators.
I dont see any difference between the JVP and the LTTE given the
background.
The former Jaffna District Parliamentarian further queried why the
Government was labelling detainees as terrorists, if the
Government could release KP and allow him to move about freely
and if Karuna Amman could become the Deputy Leader of the Sri
Lanka Freedom Party and be a Deputy Minister.
Following are excerpts of an interview with the Daily FT:
Q: What is the latest with regard to releasing PTA
detainees?
A: The Government says the detainees will be sent to
rehabilitation camps batch by batch. But I dont know
when they are going to start this. I dont know whether
they will accommodate everybody or they are only going
to send a few. Nobody knows these things. Actually there
is no proper response from the Government side.
Swaminathan went to the Magazine prison and said the
detainees would be sent to the rehabilitation centre and
the first batch would be sent within 10 days.
There are about 46 to 48 convicted prisoners. There are
126 prisoners with cases in the High Court. There are 66
prisoners with cases in the Magistrate Courts. We do not
know how they are going to do these things. The prisoners
are demanding to have a general amnesty. But what the
Government is saying is that they want all the detainees
sent to the rehabilitation centres and released later.
What has happened is that they have released some of
them on bail. They are going to file cases against them.
Unfortunately the Government does not have a political
solution on this matter.
Q: What do you actually want?
A: These prisoners want a general amnesty. If the President and the
Cabinet take decision, these detainees can be released. Then that is the

end of the story. But now they have taken a decision to give the power to
the Attorney Generals Department. The AGs Department will take this up
case by case. They will release a few, give bail to a few. We do not know
how they will handle it.

Q: How many detainees are there altogether?

A: I dont have the exact figures. May be more than 280. This is what I
heard. Earlier they said 278. I dont know the exact figure now. It may be
220 to 275.
Q: You seem to be unhappy that the detainees are being released
in batches?
A: The political prisoners want to have a general amnesty. We can only be
happy if the Government grants a general amnesty. If they are unable to do
that the Government should send all the detainees to a rehabilitation centre
so they could be released after six months or one year. But nothing has
happened. Actually we do not know what they will do. There is no ground to
be happy about giving bail and things like that. Investigations will continue.
They can file new cases. They can even be arrested again. We need to have
a political decision on this matter. During the JVP time, all the JVPers were
given a general amnesty. Even after the Indo-Lanka Accord, a general
amnesty was given to others. Why cant they do the same? Why cant they
grant a general amnesty to these detainees?
Q: Do you think it is correct to compare the JVP and the LTTE, given
that the latter is a terrorist organisation internationally?
A: Both the JVP and the LTTE were involved in an armed intrusion. The JVP
wanted to liberate Sri Lanka for the Sinhala people. The LTTE wanted to
liberate the Tamil people, therefore wanted a separate State. Both were
armed militants. How do you separate these two parties? You can brand the
LTTE as terrorists but Tamils brand them as liberators. I dont see any
difference between the JVP and the LTTE given the background.
The Government released KP and has allowed him to move very freely. He
can run the NGO. The Government made Karuna the Deputy Leader of the
Sri Lanka Freedom Party. They made him a Deputy Minister. How can the
Government claim the people who are in jail are terrorists?
Q: You say these people are political prisoners. But this
Government has clearly said it no longer has any political

prisoners. Your comments?

A: That is absolute rubbish. They have the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA)
to hurt whoever is fighting against the Government. They dont want to
bring them under criminal laws. They have brought all these people under
the PTA because these are the people who were LTTEers or supporters of
the LTTE or people who have given some sort of food or water to the LTTE.
Those are the cases filed against these people. They are not criminals. They
belong to a party and they have supported a party. That is why we say they
are political prisoners.
Q: There are allegations that by demanding the release of these
prisoners, you are interfering with the countrys law and order. Do
you agree?
A: The Government proudly says it has already rehabilitated 10,000 LTTE
cadres. If they can proudly say that, I dont know why they are keeping 250
of LTTE cadres without releasing them. I dont see any sense here.
The Government is only trying to tell the international community look we
have rehabilitated them and sent them to society. If they wanted they
could have sent these people for rehabilitation. Some have been there for
the last eight to 10 years. I know there are cases were they have been
taken in for giving food to the LTTE. The case is going on for eight years.
That is almost equivalent to a 15 year sentence. A life sentence could be
finished within 14 to 15 years. You must understand these things.
We are not interfering with Sri Lankas law and order. These are political
matters. That is why we are asking the Government to consider them
politically. The Government has earlier given general amnesties to various
people. Not only that; on Independence Day, on the perahera day, the
President gives pardon to criminals in this country. Why cant these
detainees be pardoned? 275 is not a big number. Such action will bring
better understanding among communities too.
Q: Some fear releasing these detainees will pose a serious threat
to the countrys security. What are your remarks about such
charges?
A: That is absolute rubbish. Sinhalese extremist forces want to create
problems to make this Government uncomfortable. They dont want to
allow the Government to handle this matter in a proper way. They are only
trying to pressurise the Government. This so-called National Government is
having its own problems. The Opposition is trying to create more problems.
That is why they are shouting with these baseless allegations.
The war ended in 2009 and this is 2015. For the last six years not a single
violent act has taken place in north or eastern part of this country. How can

anybody say releasing these prisoners will be a threat to the countrys

security? That is absolute rubbish.
Q: TNA MP M. Sumanthiran has said these detainees will be
rehabilitated once they are released. Why dont you allow the
Government to first rehabilitate and then release them?
A: I dont know what Sumanthiran has said. The Government before
releasing the detainees will send them for rehabilitation. They will not
release the detainees without doing that. What Sumanthiran said is not
correct.
Q: Why do you insist on change the name of Nagadeepa to
Nainathivu?
A: Nagadeepa is not the original name of that place. It is an island and the
original name of that place is Nainathivu. In Tamil an island is called thivu
and there are seven islands in the northern part of this country. All the
names of those islands end as thivu. Nainathivu is one of the oldest of
those islands. The Buddhist temple came up later. But as Tamils we did not
make any objections and agreed. Even after the temple was built, in all the
records the island was referred as Nainathivu. It is not us who are creating
problems. Before Nagadeepa there is a very old Amman temple. Now they
want to change the name to Nagadeepa. They are creating problems. How
can the Government do that arbitrarily?
Q: Nagadeepa has immense significance and importance to
Buddhists in this country. Changing it to Nainathivu would lead to
unnecessary problems in the country. Do you agree?
A: That may be true, but this is a Tamil island. It is in the north. There is
much older Hindu temple there. We are not against the Buddhist temple.
Let me reiterate, the name of the island is Nainathivu. Any Buddhist can
come, any Sinhalese can come. But why do they want to change the
original name of that island? Will they allow Tamils to go to Hambantota or
Galle and change one of their village names? There is freedom for anyone
to go to any part of this country and pray anywhere. Not only the
Nagadeepa temple, Buddhists go to the Amman temple too. Things are
happening smoothly. But recently during the election they started calling it
Nagadeepa. That is when all these unnecessary problems started.
Otherwise there were no issues.
Q: Instead of passing resolutions, what have you actually done to

uplift the lives of Northern people?

A:You have to pose that question to the Chief Minister of the Northern
Provincial Council. There is a Chief Minister, there are Ministers and
Provincial Council Members. You have to ask them that question.
Q: As a politician who fights for rights of the Tamils in this country,
are you satisfied with what the Northern Provincial Council has
done?
A: No Government can satisfy the people 100%. Whether its a UNP
government or a SLFP government, there will be problems. I am not
satisfied with the present Government. Nobody will be satisfied with any
government because they have high expectations. In the Northern
Provincial Council too, we are having so many problems. We are after a war.
People are expecting many things from us. People want to be resettled in
their own areas.
The Chief Minister cannot do it. People want us to provide them with
livelihood but the Chief Minister cannot do it because he doesnt have
money. He needs the support of the Central Government to carry out his
work. The Government is treating some of the provincial councils in a
different way and in a different manner. I dont want to give a clean ticket to
the Northern Provincial Council because they are not doing much. But it
does not mean they are not doing anything.
Q: Wigneswaran last week released a press communiqu clarifying
a statement made by Sumanthiran. What is actually happening
inside the TNA?
A: You have to ask Sumanthiran and Chief Minister Wigneswaran about
that.
Q: What is the stand of the TNA regarding the dispute?
A: Its not a party matter. It a personal matter of Sumanthiran and
Wigneswaran. You have to ask them.
Q: Is there a rift in the party?
A: Definitely through these letters you will know there are contradictions
within the party. Thats all I can say.
Posted by Thavam