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Mullaitivu documents lead to listing of pro-LTTE groups
View(s):Intelligence authorities used information extracted from sheaves of Tamil Tiger documents recovered from the battlefield in Mullaitivu to compile a 39-page list of designated persons, groups and entities “suspected of financing terrorism”, a senior official said.
He said that while the listing of these groups and individuals could not currently be treated as a prohibition, the Government had the option of banning or proscribing them by passing legislation in Parliament.
“Although the LTTE was defeated militarily in Sri Lanka, most of its financial networks still function outside,” said Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Kapila Hendawitharana, Chief of National Intelligence. “We have proof for that. We recovered in Mullaitivu a lot of documents which showed how they collected funds and sent these back to the LTTE here. These included notes of senior leaders.”
Maj. Gen. Hendawitharana was responding to a question by the Sunday Times on how certain the Government was that those named were connected with the financing of terrorism. He also said that, if any person objected to being on the list he or she could challenge it in a Sri Lankan court of law. “They can come here and prove their case,” he asserted.
Two separate gazette notifications were issued by the Government dated March 20. The first was a list of individuals, entities, other groups and undertakings associated with the Taliban and al-Qaeda. It was promulgated under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1267.
Through it, the UNSC established a sanctions regime for individuals and entities associated with al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden and the Taliban — wherever located. Maj. Gen. Hendawitharana was appointed Competent Authority for its implementation in Sri Lanka.
The second gazette was a compilation of persons, groups and entities that the Defence Ministry says are responsible for continued financing of terrorism. This was promulgated under UNSC Resolution 1373 which sets out wide-ranging strategies to combat terrorism, in particular terrorist financing. Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa has been appointed Competent Authority for its implementation.
The sprawling list has spurred strong criticism from Tamil diaspora groups and rights campaigners who have accused the Government of trying to stamp out dissent. Although both gazettes were dated March 20, the one related to LTTE financing was only released to the public on Friday — 16 days later. The Ministry attributed the delay to translation issues; it had to be available in all three languages before it was published.
The time lag led to speculation that the measures were adopted as retaliation against diaspora groups for their alleged role in getting multiple resolutions introduced before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. The last of these was passed on March 29.
The listing was reported internationally as a banning or proscription of the respective groups and individuals. The authorities insisted that it was not so.
“The word ‘listing’ is used in the context of a UN resolution,” said Maj. Gen. Hendawitharana. “The UN initially selects any organisation or person detrimental to international peace and order. Once the listing is done, it is up to an individual country to pass legislation through Parliament to ban or proscribe such organisation.”
“Banning is under domestic law,” he said. “Even where this list is concerned, we can ban them later under domestic law.” He also said the authorities had collated information on the groups and individuals for the past 18 months and could add more names to the gazette in future.
Curiously, the name of Kumaran Pathmanathan or KP is not on the list despite being the LTTE’s chief weapons procurer. Nor is the name of Adele Balasingham, wife of Tiger theoretician Anton Balasingham included. Mr. Pathmanathan lives in Kilinochchi where he runs an orphanage while Ms. Balasingham lives in London. “He is no more with the LTTE,” said Maj. Gen. Hendawitharana. “From 2003 he was involved in procurement and funds came from elsewhere to him. If KP was there with them now, we could have listed KP. But we have not gazetted Minister Muralitharan or Mr. Pillayan either. We have also not gazetted those who have undergone the rehabilitation programme.”
Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna is now a minister in the United People’s Freedom Alliance Government while Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan served as Chief Minister of the Eastern Province.
The substantial effect of an order under the gazetted regulation is that the funds, assets and economic resources belonging to or owned by the designated persons or entities remain frozen until they are removed from the designated list. Moving, transferring or dealing with frozen assets without the permission of the Competent Authority is prohibited. In terms of the regulation, any person who fails to comply with an order to freeze assets is liable for heavy penalties.
“We have already frozen some assets here, including those belonging to the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation,” Maj. Gen.Hendawitharana said. “The Terrorist Investigation Division takes action whenever it comes across such instances.”
The Defence Ministry will now use Sri Lanka’s network of international diplomatic missions to inform the designated persons and groups of their inclusion in the list. “Once they are designated, we can also request the countries in which they reside to take action as per the UN Resolution which is binding on all States,” he explained. “We will do it.”
There are plans to launch a website for the Competent Authority. All the designated groups and individuals will appear on this site.
Asked about how the listing will impact on the Tamil National Alliance that might have dealings with some of the designated persons and groups, Maj. Gen. Hendawitharana replied: “They can do anything without violating the Constitution of the country. They can collect money for political activities but not for terrorism. We will catch them (if they collect money for terrorism).”