Transnational Govt advisory committee discuss election process in Norway meeting

(October 13, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The Advisory Committee for the formation of the Provisional Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (PTGTE) met in Oslo, Norway from October 2nd to October 4th 2009. The Advisory Committee discussed in detail the procedural matters relating to the conduct of free and fair elections for the PTGTE.

The Advisory Committee discussed a number of proposals made in this regard by the Tamil Diaspora. The Advisory Committee met with the Tamil community in Oslo at a public forum and also held individual consultations.

The statement released by the Committee for the formation of the Provisional Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (PTGTE) said: The first step in the formation of the PTGTE will be the election of a constituent assembly. The constituent assembly allows for broad participation and inclusion of diverse points of view. The Advisory Committee discussed details of the election process. These details included: the minimum age requirements to vote and stand for elections; the voter registration process; the minimum criteria required for registration; the nature of the proof of such criteria; a hybrid system which allows people to register in advance as well as participate in the election with adequate proof and the mechanism for direct election to the constituent assembly. The Advisory Committee also discussed gender representation in the elected body. It explored the possibility of engaging national and international organizations in planning and monitoring the election process.

CountryWorking Groups (CWG) will be organized to undertake the ground work for the formation of the PTGTE including assisting in the election process and in the dissemination of information to Diaspora communities and the International Community. The Secretariat of the PTGTE will be established in Geneva to co-ordinate the activities of the CWGs and to attend to the immediate humanitarian priorities.

Reflecting on the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka, the Advisory Committee is pursuing avenues of ensuring that children trapped in the Government internment camps are reunited with their families and are afforded all international protections available to them. The Advisory Committee is engaged in an ongoing process of collecting and documenting information of children trapped in the camps.

The Advisory Committee takes this opportunity to condemn the continuing internment of nearly 300,000 innocent Tamil civilians by the Government of Sri Lanka which is permanently and overwhelmingly dominated by the Sinhalese. Despite repeated requests from the international community, access to these camps is still denied to humanitarian organizations, journalists and independent monitors.

The Advisory Committee notes that this continued internment is in violation of Principle 14 of the Guiding Principles on Internally Displaced People which guarantees “liberty of movement and freedom to choose his or her residence”. It is also a violation of Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which guarantees the right of freedom of movement and residence. Several rights guaranteed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, including the right to liberty and security of the person (Article 9), the liberty of movement (Article 12), the right to a hearing prior to incarceration (Article 14) and others are being violated. These rights are monitored by the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations. The allegations of torture, abduction and elimination of Tamil youths within the camp are routine and needs to be investigated. The situation involves the violation of several other principles of human rights and humanitarian law.

The Advisory Committee urges the International Community to use all means at its disposal, including but not limited to, the denial of GSP Plus for Sri Lanka, the withholding of further installments of the $2.6 billion IMF loan, and the investigations of war crimes committed by the Sri Lankan Government, to end these violations of Human Rights and Humanitarian norms. More urgently, the International Community should secure the release of all Tamils civilians being held prisoner and to ensure all Tamils have the right and freedom to resettle in their homes. The success or failure of the measures in international law that have been adopted to protect civilians in times of crisis depends very much on how the International Community is able to intervene to exercise its responsibility to protect the Tamil civilians in the internment camps in Sri Lanka and ensure their freedom

-Sri Lanka Guardian