Sunday 09, Auguest 1998 - News
Norwegian member blasts LTTE, NGOs
A senior Norwegian member of the Human
Rights Commission s Sub-commission on the Prevention of
Discrimination against Minorities has accused the LTTE leadership
of acquiring an almost "paranoid garrison mentality"
and said that the Movement, particularly its leadership ,
respects no human rights .
In a severe criticism of the LTTE last Thursday, Asbjorn Eide has
called upon the international community and international NGOs
and governments to convince the Tamils in their respective
countries of the need for accomodation.
In what diplomatic circles see as a firm departure from his
earlier stance, Eide, a one-time critic of the Sri Lanka
government, accused the LTTE of causing havoc and fear among all
communities living in Sri Lanka, including Tamils.
Inernational NGOs who lend their support to the LTTE came in for
particular criticism. "They are then not supporting the
Tamil cause but an utterly undemocratic movement, unable to
contemplate peace in any form", Eide told the Geneva meeting
of the Sub-commission. Speaking on the country s (Sri Lanka)
situation during a packed hearing attended by several LTTE and
pro-Eelam sympathisers, Eide said " I shall now turn from
that case to that of Sri Lanka. Some of my colleagues have been
here long enough to remember that I, in 1983, was the first to
criticise the government of Sri Lanka for its lack of effective
measures to investigate the authors of the massacres against the
Tamils in the summer of 1983, including the killing of political
prisoners in the Welikade prison. I know also that many in Sri
Lanka subsequently regretted that they did not listen to the
suggestions we then made, which were to take prompt action to
restore law and order, to punish those responsible, and to
involve the International Committee of the Red Cross. But, very
much has changed since 1983. Among the Tamils an extremely
militant group emerged calling itself the Tigers, abbreviated
LTTE. Its leadership has developed an almost paranoid garrison
mentality. That Movement, or particularly its leadership,
respects no human rights. It engages in the most heinous crimes,
using female, male and possibly even child suicide bombers to
create havoc and fear. Its killing is directed not only at
Sinhalese enemies, including civilians and their religious
temples, but also against its Tamil opponents, including the
courageous Tamil woman who was until recently the Mayor of
Jaffna, until assassinated by the Tigers. Many Tamils, including
those who are struggling for a devolution of power and greater
influence for the Tamils, live under constant threat of
assasination by the LTTE.
"What baffles me is that there are still international
non-governmental organisations who lend their support to this
movement. They are then not supporting the Tamil cause but an
utterly undemocratic movement, unable to contemplate peace in any
form."
" In 1994, a new President was elected in Sri Lanka,
and the government has presented a package of devolution which
goes as far as any government can possibly do. There is no doubt
in my mind that the President is genuine, and that many, or
probably most Tamils would be happy if the package could be
accepted. But the LTTE does not want it to happen."
"The LTTE is battling for the minds and the money of the
expatriate Tamil community. In order to continue its fruitless
and endless war, the Tigers depend on this external financial
support from which to purchase weapons and other means. The
international community, the international NGOs and the
governments should now seek to convince the Tamil communities in
their countries that the way to achieve Tamil human rights is
through an accomodation based on equality for all in the island
of Sri Lanka, full respect for the cultures of the Sinhala,
Tamils, Muslims and others, and a devolution of power which makes
it possible, through peaceful democratic means, to ensure the
conditions for the survival and reproduction of the Tamil
culture".