Diaspora Hails De-listing, Offers Assistance

Father S. J. Emmanuel and David Poopalapillai--------------------V. Rudrakumaran

by Easwaran Rutnam-Tuesday, December 01, 2015

Reconciliation moves in Sri Lanka has received a much needed boost with the Tamil
Diaspora offering assistance after the government de-listed several organizations
accused of having links with the LTTE.
The New York based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that the de-listing opens the
doors for discussions, which will prevent future conflict and ensure healing between
and within communities.
HRW welcomes the de-listing of diaspora groups. This is a positive step towards the
reconciliation process if it leads to the kind of honest and difficult discussions that are
necessary for mutual understanding, preventing future conflicts, and healing between
and within communities, HRW Asia Director Brad Adams told The Sunday Leader.
Following a review on the groups and individuals listed over alleged terrorism links,
the government announced last weekend that there was no intelligence or evidence
justifying the listing of eight organisations and 267 persons. However, groups that
continue to espouse separatism, including eight organizations and 157 individuals,
remain proscribed.
The amended list gazetted by the government, removes the ban on the Global Tamil
Forum (GTF), the British Tamil Forum (BTF), Australian Tamil Congress (ATC) and
the Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC), among others.

The new gazette notification has also lifted the ban on the head of the Global Tamil
Forum, Father S. J. Emmanuel.
Speaking to The Sunday Leader, Father Emmanuel said that the listing of Tamils and
organizations by the former government led by Mahinda Rajapaksa was done with an
evil intention of tarnishing the Tamil Diaspora as terrorist or potential terrorists before
the international community.
This, he feels, was done to justify Rajapaksas own state-terrorism against the Tamils
at home and weaken the democratic and non-violent efforts of the Diaspora Tamils
vis-a-vis the international community.
As a consequence, many Tamils of the Diaspora were prevented by fear from visiting
their loved ones still in Sri Lanka as well prevented from undertaking humanitarian
assistance for the victims of war, he said.
While many still remain on the list of proscribed groups and individuals, Father
Emmanuel says he considers the attempt by the new government as an attempt to
correct, at least partially, the evil actions of the Rajapaksa regime in the interest of
good governance and to show the goodwill of the new government towards the
Diaspora Tamils as encouraged by the international community.
Hence while welcoming the goodwill attempt of the new government, we of the GTF
will wish that sooner than later that the whole list be done away with, since it was a
100% evil act of the Rajapaksa regime against the freedom and democratic rights of the
Diaspora Tamils to continue their struggle for the rights of the Tamils and the well
being of all peoples in Sri Lanka, he said.
Father Emmanuel has been in self-exile since 1997 after the then government accused
him of supporting terrorism. He says the allegations even damaged his personal
standing as a Catholic priest including through false accusations in the website of the
Defence Ministry when it was under the then Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.
The present government has understood me better and the President and the foreign
Minister have invited me to come back and help in the work of reconciliation. Since I
am in the first place a Catholic priest working always for reconciliation by the path of
truth, justice and accountability, I am closely watching the developments and efforts
made by the government, he said.
Father Emmanuel however says he had told President Maithripala Sirisena that
reconciliation cannot be done by politicians alone and that all four religions must also
take an active role.
All four religions must also take an active role in that effort because, as pointed out
recently by Samantha Power, reconciliation or inclusiveness should come from the
people. Till now, except for the late Sobitha Thera, the other religious leaders are

conspicuously silent, he said.

Father Emmanuel says while he will continue his efforts for reconciliation from
London where he is based, he will return home when necessary for a more active role.
The other well known Diaspora group, which was de-proscribed by the government, is
the Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC).
David Poopalapillai, the National Spokesperson of the CTC, said that his organization
welcomes the initiative by the new Sri Lankan government to de-list some of the
Diaspora organizations from the March 2014 list, including the CTC.
Poopalapillai told The Sunday Leader that all along CTC has said that the original
listing itself was arbitrary and not based on facts, and was implemented by the
previous government to silence many in the Diaspora.
We had written to both the previous and the present government to produce evidence
or de-list the CTC.
All in the Diaspora can play an important part in rebuilding Sri Lanka, and this action
is in the right direction as we move forward, he said.
The new government, after taking office this year, said it will de-list some Tamil
Diaspora groups in order to seek their support to work with Sri Lanka.
Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera also had talks with the GTF in the presence of
the Tamil National Alliance and former Norwegian peace envoy Erik Solheim in
London this year.
The GTF and other Tamil Diaspora groups are to be invited to Sri Lanka to attend a
diaspora festival set to be organized by the government.
While most Diaspora groups had welcomed the initiatives of the new government,
there are some, including the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) and
its leader, former LTTE negotiator V. Rudrakumaran, who continue to be critical of Sri
Lanka and are pushing for an Eelam State. The Mahinda Rajapaksa government
banned several organizations operating on foreign soil as foreign terrorist
organizations, utilising the UN Security Council Resolution 1373, which was brought
about by the Unites States on September 28, 2001 after the attack on the New York
twin towers on September 11, 2001.
The then government raised concerns over the alleged activities of the Tamil Diaspora
saying they could fund another war in Sri Lanka.
United Nations Regulation No. 1, approved by Parliament in 2012, obliges the
government to review and update its list of proscribed organisations at least once a

year. The new government, resolute in combating terrorism in all its forms and
manifestations, undertook a systematic review process in order to update the list of
organisations.
The new government said it was willing to negotiate with the Diaspora and look at
their concerns and work with them instead of sidelining them.
The government last week urged other
groups and individuals banned in Sri Lanka over terrorism links to renounce
separatism in addition to taking other necessary measures so they can be considered
for de-proscription.
We hope that other groups and individuals make similar public commitments
condemning violence and renouncing separatism in addition to other necessary
measures.
Then they too can be considered for de-proscription and join other formerly
proscribed organisations, both in the North and South, who have successfully entered
the democratic mainstream and are now working for the betterment of Sri Lanka, the
Foreign Ministry said last week.
As a result of this review, the Foreign Ministry says Sri Lankas law enforcement and
intelligence services are now able to target their resources more efficiently and focus
their energy on genuine threats improving the security of all Sri Lankans.
We Will Push For Self-determination - Rudrakumaran
The Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam
(TGTE) and its leader V. Rudrakumaran who
remain proscribed over terrorism links,
accused the government of selective de-listing
and said that it will not contribute to reaching a
political resolution to the Tamil national
question. Rudrakumaran told The Sunday
Leader that his organisation will push for selfdetermination for the Tamils.
Q. The Sri Lankan government has decided not
to de-proscribe the TGTE. How will this affect
V. Rudrakumaran
the reconciliation process?
A. Given the fact that the TGTEs constitution states its goal is the
establishment of an independent and sovereign state of Tamil Eelam, we are
not surprised that it was not sanitized by the Sri Lankan government. The
governments selective sanitization smacks of a divide and rule policy of the
government towards the Tamil diaspora. The UNP and its leader Hon. Ranil
Wickremesinghe is well versed in the art of divide and rule tactics. Ranil

employed these tactics during the ceasefire period and got Karuna to defect
from the LTTE. Now it seems that he is trying this on the Diaspora.
This selective de-listing will not contribute to reaching a political resolution
to the Tamil national question. On the contrary it is counter-productive.
Selectively embracing certain groups who are also equally committed to the
Tamil aspiration carries the danger of delegitimizing these groups in the eyes
of the Tamil people. This will impair and undermine their contribution to the
resolution of the Tamil national question.
Successive Sri Lankan governments used the terrorism label to tarnish the
Tamil campaign for an independent state. The new regime is not only doing
that but goes further to drive a wedge among the Tamil Diaspora with that
same terrorism label to divide and rule them. However, we believe that these
tactics will contribute to consolidation of the mutual understanding among
the Tamil Diaspora entities and will contribute to a reaffirmation of the
fundamentals, namely, Nation, Homeland, and Right to self-determination.
Q. The Government wants those still on the list to denounce separatism. Will
you denounce separatism?
A. The question before us is not whether the TGTE will renounce or
denounce separatism, but whether the Tamil people denounce separation
ideals if they are allowed to exercise their free will in the absence of the 6th
Amendment to the Constitution, which criminalizes peaceful advocacy for an
independent state.
While TGTE believes that due to the rigidity of the ethnocratic nature of the
Sri Lankan State, and only in an independent State can the Tamils live in
dignity and security, we also believe that it is up to the Tamil people to
decide on this if and when they are given a choice through a referendum to
decide their future. In my view all the Tamil Diaspora entities including the
de-listed ones are also subscribed to this position.
To my knowledge while some de-listed entities say that Tamils do not want
separation, they themselves will not oppose a demand that the Tamils should
be given a choice to decide their future. It is not just a political issue, but a
human rights issue. Even the TNA leadership, whenever they visited abroad,
have agreed on this position and pledged to raise it. Next year will see the
fortieth anniversary of the Vaddukoddai Resolution. Thus TGTE, along with
other Diaspora and domestic entities, are planning to file a complaint with
the Human Rights Committee of the UN arguing that the 6th Amendment is
a violation of freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and freedom of
association.
It is a fact that the peoples thirst for freedom cannot be quenched by a mere
listing phenomenon. As the late South Korean President Kim Young-sam
said, Dawn will come, even if the rooster is strangled.

I must also say that the UN Security Council Resolution 1373, the resolution
cited by the government of Sri Lanka as a basis for the listing, is not
promulgated to combat independence or separatism. There is not a single
word about separatism in those 1,287 words resolution. Not only that the UN
Security Council Resolutions pertains to terrorism, but it is also true that
none of the constitutions in any country nor statutes of any country equate
separatism with terrorism.
It is true that in some countries their constitutions prohibit separatism, but
no country equates separatism with terrorism. David Cameron did not put
Alex Salmond in the terrorism list, nor did President Rajoy designate Arthur
Mass as a terrorist. It might be true that we cannot expect such
statesmanship and moral and legal clarity from the Sinhala leadership, but
the international community cannot turn a blind eye to this outrageous and
idiotic abuse of the UN Security Council Resolution.
It is an irony that the new regime which came to power to uphold rule of law
is deliberately abusing the international legal process. We call upon the
International Community to condemn this.
I must also point out that while Sri Lanka has not done anything
constructively to fulfill its obligation under the Human Rights Council
Resolution pertaining to accountability, a Resolution co-sponsored by Sri
Lanka, it is embarked on a mission to distort the International legal process.
Anticipating this, we at the TGTE have nominated a Monitoring and
Accountability Panel (MAP) comprising experts with much depth of
experience of participation in UN-sponsored international and hybrid
tribunals.
I would like to take this moment also to point out that presently not a single
Diaspora entity is talking about violence as a means to realize the Tamils
political aspirations. The TGTEs constitution mandates that it should realize
its political goal through peaceful means. The GoSLs harping on violence is
nothing other than a ruse to justify its repressive Sinhala militarization of the
Tamil homeland.
Posted by Thavam