Support Sri Lanka in its attempt to liberate Tamil Civilians from Tiger Captivity

by Ranjith Soysa

(September 16, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) The Society for Peace Unity and Human Rights for Sri Lanka (SPUR) deplores the ongoing campaign of terror waged for nearly three decades by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) against the people of Sri Lanka and their elected representatives in an attempt to carve out an ethnically cleansed separate state from the island of Sri Lanka (which is smaller than Tasmania).

SPUR also condemns the LTTE for its use of the captive Tamil civilian population as a bargaining chip in its battle for survival against the Sri Lankan security forces, and calls on the International Community including Australia to exert pressure on the LTTE to allow the free movement of civilians from the conflict zones to enable them to reach the safe areas provided by the Government of Sri Lanka.

Safe Passage for Civilians held captive by the LTTE

Over the past two years, the Sri Lankan security forces have liberated large tracts of territory previously held by the Tigers. In particular, the entire Eastern Province of Sri Lanka was freed from the Tigers, and Provincial Council Elections held for the first time in two decades. It is now under civil administration, and incorporates a multi-ethnic Council headed by a Tamil Chief Minister.

In the Northern Province too, the Tigers are under heavy pressure, and have been driven out from a number of key towns. However, unlike in the multi-ethnic East which provided relatively safe escape routes from LTTE areas, the Tamil civilians in the remaining Tiger areas of the North are forcibly taken along by retreating LTTE cadres when they relinquish territory to the Sri Lankan security forces. This deliberate tactic serves the LTTE in a number of ways. In addition to being a source of child conscripts, the ‘captive’ population is exploited by illegal taxation and used as manual labour for the construction of bunkers and trenches as the Tiger leadership prepares to defend the last areas remaining in their control.

Furthermore, the presence of Internally Displaced Tamil civilians in conflict areas provides the LTTE with a ‘human shield’ and a powerful propaganda tool that is being exploited by the Tiger fronts posing as community organisations of the Tamil Diaspora and some sympathetic Non-Governmental Organisations.

The latest reports from Northern Sri Lanka also show that the LTTE is utilising the assets of ‘captive’ aid agencies, including those funded by international sources, to further their objectives. In particular, heavy machinery and earth moving equipment commandeered from aid groups have been photographed being used for the construction of military defences.

The Government of Sri Lanka and a number of non-LTTE Tamil organisations have repeatedly requested the LTTE to allow safe passage to Tamil civilians so that they can reach non-conflict zones by designated routes. The Government, which continues to provide health, education and other services, as well as pay public service wages even in LTTE areas, has now set up the infrastructure to handle the expected flow of people away from the Tigers.

The Government has also requested the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to continue in its current role of providing assistance to the people in Northern Sri Lanka.

However, Sri Lankan sources, including non-LTTE Tamils, have reported that deterrents and punishments are meted out by the Tigers to those who defy orders to ‘stay and defend the homeland’. These include the loss of rations and privileges, public humiliation as traitors, and summary transfers to the battlefront to serve as ‘cannon fodder’ shielding regular LTTE cadres.

Our Appeal

Like many Sri Lankans, SPUR believes that the LTTE is not only the biggest impediment to peace in Sri Lanka, but is also a player in the global terrorist network. It has pioneered or used almost every terrorist tactic including suicide bombings, blowing up of passenger aircraft, ships & buses, assassination of political rivals including non-compliant Tamils, arms, people & drug smuggling, and the ethnic cleansing of Sinhala and Muslims civilians.

Hence, we appeal to the International Community including Australia to take the following urgent measures.

• Call for the immediate release of all civilians held captive in LTTE areas, and demand that they be granted safe passage so that they can be provided with food, shelter and healthcare.

• Request all NGOs and other aid agencies to move away from the battle zone in order to prevent another massacre of their personnel by the LTTE in an attempt to discredit the Sri Lankan Armed Forces.

• Impress on the LTTE and its overseas support Lobby that Tamil Tigers must immediately cease all forms of terrorism, release its child soldiers and set a timetable for the decommissioning of arms before it can be considered as a credible participant in any future political negotiations.

• Continue to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Sri Lanka while ensuring that funds provided by donor countries are not siphoned off by LTTE ‘front-organisations’. - Sri Lanka Guardian