The Society for Peace Unity and Human Rights for Sri Lanka (SPUR) is writing to you regarding reported statements made by you at the recent meeting of Co-Chairs of the Sri Lanka 'Donors Group' in Oslo.
Mr Richard Boucher (US Assistant Secretary of State)
Mr Yasushi Akashi (Special Representative of Japan)
Mr Andreas Michaelis (Director-General of EU Presidency)
Mr James Morran (Acting Deputy Director-General of European Commission)
Mr Erik Solheim (Norwegian International Development Minister)
Dear Sirs,
The Society for Peace Unity and Human Rights for Sri Lanka (SPUR) is writing to you regarding reported statements made by you at the recent meeting of Co-Chairs of the Sri Lanka 'Donors Group' in Oslo. While welcoming your ongoing interest in Sri Lanka, SPUR, along with all Sri Lankans who subscribe to democratic ideals, find the overall position adopted by you perplexing. From its inception at the Tokyo Donor Conference in 2003, the 'Co-Chairs' have attempted to equate the democratically elected government of Sri Lanka with the internationally proscribed Tamil Tiger terror group who have never received a mandate from any section the Sri Lankan community. In your most recent statements from Oslo, the State of Sri Lanka is being asked to forego its' legitimate right and duty to defend the Sovereignty, Unity and Territorial Integrity of the country, and the security of its' citizens from the barbaric terrorism of the LTTE. Some of your countries, namely the US, UK and Germany, have already withheld aid and loans from Sri Lanka in order to pressure its Government to follow your dictates and have threatened Sri Lanka with further cuts in aid/loans and investment in the event of non compliance with your conditions. This is tantamount to undermining democracy and promoting terrorism, which runs counter to the public pronouncements and the actions of your own respective countries. If your governments continue to strangle Sri Lanka economically, there is a strong possibility that Sri Lanka will sink further into an abyss of violence and instability with a gradual erosion of democracy and democratic institutions. You would no doubt be aware that economic restrictions have the greatest impact on the most disadvantaged sections of the community which includes the Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims in rural and remote areas of the country. It horrifies us, who love Sri Lanka dearly, to even imagine Sri Lanka turning into a country ruled by warlords as is the case in Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Afghanistan. It is saddening to think that such an eventuality may occur to a country that has despite numerous difficulties maintained a strong democratic tradition of government. If such an unfortunate situation arises, it will be mainly due to the punitive action taken against Sri Lanka for not following your solution to Sri Lanka's terrorist problem. The International Media have also reported that 'the co-chairs feel that even if the Tigers are pushed out of the east completely, there can never be a military solution to the conflict and that both parties will have to return to talks'. You must no doubt be aware that successive Sri Lankan Governments in the past two decades have attempted to negotiate a political settlement with the LTTE but have always been rebuffed, inevitably by outrageous demands, or on flimsy grounds. On the other hand, LTTE has been driven out of Eastern Sri Lanka not only by the military operations of the Sri Lankan security forces, but also by the political will of the Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim people of the area who have recognised the LTTE as the biggest impediment peace. Like many Sri Lankans, SPUR firmly believes that the only durable solution will be a home grown one and not one dictated by outside parties. This requirement has also been articulated by the diplomatic representatives of your own countries in Sri Lanka. However your recent statement that the Constitutional Reform proposals presented by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) to the APRC are not credible because they do not solve the 'legitimate grievances' of the Tamil people, runs counter to this. Furthermore this is a blatant interference in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka. It also lacks credibility given that no attempt has been made to articulate the legitimate "grievances" of the Tamil people, and how the SLFP proposals fail to address these grievances. We would like to emphasise that, contrary to the view propagated by the LTTE lobby, the conflict in Sri Lanka is not one between the majority Sinhala and the minority Tamil communities. Rather, it is a separatist campaign by an armed terror group against the elected government of Sri Lanka which represents Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim, Malay and Burgher citizens.
We urge the co-chairs to effectively assist the people of Sri Lanka by :
• Accepting that Sri Lanka is the common 'homeland' of all its citizens, and that no part of Sri Lanka is the exclusive 'homeland' of any ethnic group.
• Effectively enforcing the ban on the LTTE in the US, UK and EU in order to crack down on fund raising and arms procurement activities of the LTTE through it's numerous front organizations. While welcoming the recent arrests of LTTE activists in the US, UK and France, we believe that much more needs to be done before beneficial effects are felt by the long suffering people of Sri Lanka.
• Participating in the restoration of democracy in the areas recently liberated in the East of Sri Lanka from the clutches of the fascist LTTE by providing assistance to the resettlement and reconstruction programs initiated by the government of Sri Lanka.
• Not pressurizing the Sri Lankan government to stop its legitimate right of using military force against the LTTE to protect its citizens from the LTTE's terrorism.
• Not imposing foreign will on Sri Lanka, but allowing the process initiated by the government of Sri Lanka to take its due course in arriving at a home grown solution.
Recent ramifications in countries such as Afghanistan, Cambodia, Sudan, Rwanda and many others in the developing world conclusively prove that for a Democratic society to survive it must be able to root out the cancer of armed movements or terrorists bent on destroying the very basis of its freedom. If due to an error of judgment or due to some unexplained pressures, the Co-Chairs were to help the LTTE to continue its terrorist, separatist agenda by 'punishing ' Sri Lankan Government and her people, the end result will be worse than the situation which prevailed in Lebanon sometime ago. We therefore request you to reconsider your position in relation to the terrorist problem faced by democratic Sri Lanka and economic hardship faced by her people in the context of rising oil prices and related cost of imports.
Thanking You.
Yours sincerely
Dr Dasarath Jayasuriya
(President)
Mr Richard Boucher (US Assistant Secretary of State)
Mr Yasushi Akashi (Special Representative of Japan)
Mr Andreas Michaelis (Director-General of EU Presidency)
Mr James Morran (Acting Deputy Director-General of European Commission)
Mr Erik Solheim (Norwegian International Development Minister)
Dear Sirs,
The Society for Peace Unity and Human Rights for Sri Lanka (SPUR) is writing to you regarding reported statements made by you at the recent meeting of Co-Chairs of the Sri Lanka 'Donors Group' in Oslo. While welcoming your ongoing interest in Sri Lanka, SPUR, along with all Sri Lankans who subscribe to democratic ideals, find the overall position adopted by you perplexing. From its inception at the Tokyo Donor Conference in 2003, the 'Co-Chairs' have attempted to equate the democratically elected government of Sri Lanka with the internationally proscribed Tamil Tiger terror group who have never received a mandate from any section the Sri Lankan community. In your most recent statements from Oslo, the State of Sri Lanka is being asked to forego its' legitimate right and duty to defend the Sovereignty, Unity and Territorial Integrity of the country, and the security of its' citizens from the barbaric terrorism of the LTTE. Some of your countries, namely the US, UK and Germany, have already withheld aid and loans from Sri Lanka in order to pressure its Government to follow your dictates and have threatened Sri Lanka with further cuts in aid/loans and investment in the event of non compliance with your conditions. This is tantamount to undermining democracy and promoting terrorism, which runs counter to the public pronouncements and the actions of your own respective countries. If your governments continue to strangle Sri Lanka economically, there is a strong possibility that Sri Lanka will sink further into an abyss of violence and instability with a gradual erosion of democracy and democratic institutions. You would no doubt be aware that economic restrictions have the greatest impact on the most disadvantaged sections of the community which includes the Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims in rural and remote areas of the country. It horrifies us, who love Sri Lanka dearly, to even imagine Sri Lanka turning into a country ruled by warlords as is the case in Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Afghanistan. It is saddening to think that such an eventuality may occur to a country that has despite numerous difficulties maintained a strong democratic tradition of government. If such an unfortunate situation arises, it will be mainly due to the punitive action taken against Sri Lanka for not following your solution to Sri Lanka's terrorist problem. The International Media have also reported that 'the co-chairs feel that even if the Tigers are pushed out of the east completely, there can never be a military solution to the conflict and that both parties will have to return to talks'. You must no doubt be aware that successive Sri Lankan Governments in the past two decades have attempted to negotiate a political settlement with the LTTE but have always been rebuffed, inevitably by outrageous demands, or on flimsy grounds. On the other hand, LTTE has been driven out of Eastern Sri Lanka not only by the military operations of the Sri Lankan security forces, but also by the political will of the Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim people of the area who have recognised the LTTE as the biggest impediment peace. Like many Sri Lankans, SPUR firmly believes that the only durable solution will be a home grown one and not one dictated by outside parties. This requirement has also been articulated by the diplomatic representatives of your own countries in Sri Lanka. However your recent statement that the Constitutional Reform proposals presented by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) to the APRC are not credible because they do not solve the 'legitimate grievances' of the Tamil people, runs counter to this. Furthermore this is a blatant interference in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka. It also lacks credibility given that no attempt has been made to articulate the legitimate "grievances" of the Tamil people, and how the SLFP proposals fail to address these grievances. We would like to emphasise that, contrary to the view propagated by the LTTE lobby, the conflict in Sri Lanka is not one between the majority Sinhala and the minority Tamil communities. Rather, it is a separatist campaign by an armed terror group against the elected government of Sri Lanka which represents Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim, Malay and Burgher citizens.
We urge the co-chairs to effectively assist the people of Sri Lanka by :
• Accepting that Sri Lanka is the common 'homeland' of all its citizens, and that no part of Sri Lanka is the exclusive 'homeland' of any ethnic group.
• Effectively enforcing the ban on the LTTE in the US, UK and EU in order to crack down on fund raising and arms procurement activities of the LTTE through it's numerous front organizations. While welcoming the recent arrests of LTTE activists in the US, UK and France, we believe that much more needs to be done before beneficial effects are felt by the long suffering people of Sri Lanka.
• Participating in the restoration of democracy in the areas recently liberated in the East of Sri Lanka from the clutches of the fascist LTTE by providing assistance to the resettlement and reconstruction programs initiated by the government of Sri Lanka.
• Not pressurizing the Sri Lankan government to stop its legitimate right of using military force against the LTTE to protect its citizens from the LTTE's terrorism.
• Not imposing foreign will on Sri Lanka, but allowing the process initiated by the government of Sri Lanka to take its due course in arriving at a home grown solution.
Recent ramifications in countries such as Afghanistan, Cambodia, Sudan, Rwanda and many others in the developing world conclusively prove that for a Democratic society to survive it must be able to root out the cancer of armed movements or terrorists bent on destroying the very basis of its freedom. If due to an error of judgment or due to some unexplained pressures, the Co-Chairs were to help the LTTE to continue its terrorist, separatist agenda by 'punishing ' Sri Lankan Government and her people, the end result will be worse than the situation which prevailed in Lebanon sometime ago. We therefore request you to reconsider your position in relation to the terrorist problem faced by democratic Sri Lanka and economic hardship faced by her people in the context of rising oil prices and related cost of imports.
Thanking You.
Yours sincerely
Dr Dasarath Jayasuriya
(President)
