War On The Diaspora

By Easwaran Rutnam-Sunday, April 06, 2014

A new war has now began, a war between leading Diaspora groups and the Government. The war of words began after the Government had de ided to pros ribe !" Tamil groups operating overseas over their alleged lin#s with the $TTE. The !" groups %oin the $TTE on the list and will now have all their assets hannelled to organisations operating in &ri $an#a fro'en. Added to the list apart from the !( organisations are several individuals who, the Government laims, have lin#s to terrorism. The move omes even as a group of ross-party young parliamentarians had in )ebruary this year urged the Government to have dialogue with the &ri $an#an Diaspora in order to ensure there is sustainable re on iliation in the ountry. The *+s, who had been wor#ing towards promoting positive and open dialogue with Diaspora ommunities sin e ,-!!, whi h in ludes the Tamil, &inhala and *uslim Diaspora, had also offered to play the role of mediators if the need be. Gampaha Distri t &$)+ *+ .asantha &enanaya#e had told The &unday $eader in )ebruary that a report on the issues raised by the Diaspora and re ommendations in addressing those issues were handed over to the Government by the ross-party young parliamentarians. The ross-party parliamentarians had underta#en a series of visits to the /0, where a pro ess of dialogue has been established with first and se ond generation Diaspora ommunities of all &ri $an#an ethni ities. The *inistry of Defen e, on April !, onfirmed that the Global Tamil )orum 1GT)2, the British Tamil )orum 1BT)2 and the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam 1TGTE2 were among !" groups operating overseas banned by the Government.

The Ga'ette notifi ation was printed on )riday and under the ban the *inistry of Defen e said that legal a tion will be ta#en against anyone having lin#s with those groups. *ilitary spo#esman Brigadier Ruwan 3anigasuriya said that the ban was enfor ed under a /4 &e urity 5oun il resolution !676 whi h was implemented following the &eptember ,--! terrorist atta # in the /nited &tates. 8e said the newly banned !" groups have been operating overseas to reate a separate Eelam state in the 4orth of the ountry. 9rganisations banned are the Tamil Rehabilitation 9rganisation, Tamil 5oordinating 5ommittee, British Tamil )orum, 3orld Tamil *ovement, 5anadian Tamil 5ongress, Australian Tamil 5ongress, Global Tamil )orum, 4ational 5oun il of 5anadian Tamils, Tamil 4ational 5oun il, Tamil :outh 9rganisation, 3orld Tamil 5oordinating 5ommittee, Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam, Tamil Eelam +eople;s Assembly, 3orld Tamil Relief )und and the 8ead<uarters Group. The ban also lists influential Tamil Diaspora a tivists, +erinbanayagam &ivaparan alias 4ediyavan, Reverend )ather &.= Emmanuel, .isuvanathan Ruthira#umaran and &e#arampillai .inaya#amoorthy. The E>ternal Affairs *inistry said the order, designating persons and entities in terms of the /nited 4ations &e urity 5oun il Resolution !676 whi h sets out strategies to ombat terrorism and to ontrol terrorist finan ing was signed by *inister of E>ternal Affairs +rofessor G. $. +eiris following a re ommendation by the &e retary, *inistry of Defen e and /rban Development, as the 5ompetent Authority regarding the identifi ation of persons, groups and entities, believed on reasonable grounds to be ommitting, attempting to ommit, fa ilitating or parti ipating, in the ommission of a ts of terrorism. The substantial effe t of an order under this Regulation is that all funds, assets and e onomi resour es belonging to or owned by the designated persons or entities remain fro'en until they are removed from the designated list. *oving, transferring or dealing with fro'en assets without the permission of the 5ompetent Authority is prohibited. ?n terms of the Regulation, any person who fails to omply with an order to free'e assets is liable to heavy penalties. The move omes after most of these groups had been su essful in their heavily funded ampaigns to onvin e )oreign Governments to ba # a /& sponsored resolution at the /4 8uman Rights 5oun il in Geneva. The resolution was adopted by the /4 8uman Rights 5oun il and was wel ome by the Tamil Diaspora organisations whi h pushed for an international probe on &ri $an#a. The /4 8uman Rights 5oun il was meanwhile informed during the Geneva session by the

Government that the $TTE were regrouping in the 4orth following the end of the 6- year war with the defeat of the rebels in *ay ,--@. The listing of the Tamil Diaspora organi'ations seems onne ted with that statement with the Government saying it will do what it must in the best interest of national se urity. The Diaspora organi'ations pros ribed by the Government however are not willing to ta#e things lightly and some are loo#ing at ta#ing legal a tion. The Global Tamil Tamil )orum says the &ri $an#an Government;s de ision to pros ribe !( Tamil Diaspora organisations and four prominent Tamil Diaspora a tivists, in luding the Global Tamil )orum 1GT)2 and its +resident Rev. Dr &.=. Emmanuel, as Aforeign terrorist entities; and fronts for the defeated $TTE is shameful. GT) +oli y Advisor and former *ember of +arliament for Enfield 4ort, =oan Ryan said that the move is the latest attempt by a Government hell-bent on intimidating and silen ing those who demand truth, %usti e and a ountability both for the alleged war rimes ommitted during &ri $an#a;s armed onfli t and for the on-going perpetration of human rights abuses. B?t an be no oin iden e that this de ision has been made a matter of days after the latest resolution on &ri $an#a was adopted by the /4 8uman Rights 5oun il 1/48R52, on Thursday ,7th *ar h. This resolution raised a number of human rights on erns and will initiate an international investigation into allegations of violations of international law by both sides in the final years of the war. The Government asserts that this a tion has been ta#en to stop attempts to revive the $TTE in the former onfli t areas of the Tamil ma%ority 4orth and East of the island. 8owever, no one wants to return to armed onfli t and the Government annot provide a single shred of redible eviden e to support this a usation. As the 5hief *inister of &ri $an#a;s 4orthern +rovin e states, this laim is a Bwit h-huntC used for politi al purposes and as a over to ontinue the militarisation and repression of the area,C she said. GT) says by labelling ma%or Tamil Diaspora groups as Aterrorists;, the pros ription will forbid &ri $an#an iti'ens, 4G9s and politi al parties from having any onta t with these organisations. )amilies and friends of representatives who wor# for these groups will be in

even more danger and members of the Tamil Diaspora heading to the island will be under loser s rutiny by the state se urity for es. BThe Government is not interested in engaging onstru tively with the Diaspora and is not prepared to address the root ause of the armed onfli t D the systemati marginalisation of the Tamil people. This is a blatant measure to atta # freedom of e>pression. ?t will further undermine the human rights situation on the island and will do yet more damage to the a ountability and re on iliation pro esses. This annot be tolerated by the international ommunity, espe ially sin e the /48R5 raised these matters as serious issues of on ern in its resolution last wee#. ?t underlines why the ulture of impunity in &ri $an#a must be hallenged and why there needs to be an independent, international investigation,C =oan Ryan said. The international ommunity is also not too happy with the move by the Government and feel that engagement with the Diaspora is riti al at this time. The Government is to brief the diplomati ommunity in &ri $an#a on the listing after the Ga'ette was printed last wee# following whi h the respe tive ountries, from where some of the groups operate, will let their stand #nown to the Government. &uren &urendiran D Global Tamil )orum

This a tion now proves that the government is ban#rupt of politi al will to even attempt to resolve the root auses of the Tamil 4ational Euestion. As the /4 8uman Rights 5ommissioner a #nowledged after her visit to 5olombo in August ,-!6 and in her re ent report, the government;s authoritarian tenden y is now giving rise for them to thin# that they an suppress freedom of spee h even overseas. By reating fear and by targeting lo al media organisations and personnel they have su essfully suppressed freedom of spee h internally in the island. 4ow by pros ribing organisations in &ri $an#a, the government is trying to intimidate members of international organisations li#e the Global Tamil )orum to give into its ta ti s. ?t;s a proven fa t through the per entage votes the ruling party gained in the re ently held ele tions that its popularity internally too is wea#ening. /48R5 has given the authority to the 9ffi e of the /4 8R 5ommissioner to initiate an international investigation into alleged brea hes of international law in &ri $an#a. )ear has set in due to these ombined reasons, is the only on lusion that an be drawn for this idea of pros ription of organisations that fun tion overseas. This is a

typi al rea tion. 3e as an organisation will deploy all legal and politi al instruments that are at our disposal to send a lear message to the regime that none of these Aterror; ta ti s will wor# with us as we live in a free so iety where we herish freedom of spee h and demo ra y and demo ra y not as defined as in &ri $an#a but pra ti ing demo ra y. This is yet another reason why the urrent allegations of human rights violations, rimes against humanity and abuses must be monitored and investigated by an international body li#e the /48R5. ?nternational ommunity must rea t de isively to let the government #now in no un ertain terms that there will be serious onse<uen es for these a tions or the la # of it. GT) as an organisation has learly arti ulated to the world and the people of &ri $an#a that we a tively promote non-violen e and we see# a negotiated politi al settlement for the Tamil 4ational Euestion.C FFFFFFFFFFF .isvanathan Rudra#umaran D Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam 1TGTE2

The &ri $an#an government;s April )ool;s order shows its desperation, ra ial e> lusiveness, and Authoritarianism. The TGTE is a demo rati ally ele ted body based on the prin iples of nationhood, homeland and self determination. The TGTE is ommitted to pursuing its goal through pea eful and lawful means. All Tamil Diaspora entities are based on demo rati prin iples, rule of law and transparen y. Espe ially with respe t to TGTE its members are ele ted through open and transparent demo rati pro ess. The Government of &ri $an#a;s 1G9&$2 order designating foreign Tamil entities as terrorist organi'ations demonstrates its unwillingness and paranoia to engage with demo rati ideals and ideas. ?nside the island of &ri $an#a the G9&$ through the (th Amendment to the 5onstitution and military strangulation has deprived the Tamils of the freedom to arti ulate their politi al aspirations fully and freely. This order is a patheti attempt of the G9&$ to stifle the Tamil politi al aspirations outside the island. This order is an attempt to wea#en the Tamil nation by prohibiting the Tamils inside the island from ommuni ating, sharing and wor#ing together with Eelam Tamils outside the island. The 9rder also demonstrates the G9&$;s attempt to perpetuate the prison onditions of the Tamils inside the island. The 9rder demonstrates the illusion of the G9&$ that its writ runs outside its borders. ?t is also an insult and affront to the legal system of demo rati ountries in whi h most of the organi'ations are legally registered and fun tioning. The G9&$ is trying to repeat the same war against terrorism drama it staged su essfully to

ommit the Tamil geno ide in ,--@. 8owever this time the audien es are not as gullible. 3e are e>pe ting the ?nternational ommunity to denoun e this anti-demo rati measure.