News - EU ban won’t affect SLMM activities

By Shimali Senanayake

An imminent European Union ban on the LTTE will not deter ceasefire monitoring operations, senior officials and diplomats said yesterday, despite three among the Scandinavian mission being members of the EU.

Finland, Denmark and Sweden are the EU countries in the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission. They were among the last of the EU states to be convinced about the necessity to list the LTTE as a terrorist group.

Officials said the reservations stemmed from how the ban could affect their work on the ground. But those reservations were overcome last Thursday, along with the 22 other EU member-states.

The European Union is expected to rubber-stamp a ban on the LTTE as a terrorist group before May 30 — a move that will effectively freeze its assets and lead to a clamp-down on pro-Tiger activity in the 25-state EU bloc.

Talks that are underway will culminate in a ministerial council meeting to formally include the LTTE on the EU's blacklist.

"If a listing is agreed, the operation of the SLMM will not be affected in terms of the ceasefire agreement," a senior diplomat involved in the process said, on condition of anonymity.

The proscription will allow the Finns, Danes and Swedes to conduct as usual their monitoring activities that include probes into cease-fire violations on both sides, he said. The monitors do not represent their individual countries but function under a "white flag."

SLMM Chief Ulf Henricsson told The Sunday Times, the ban could affect relations

"If the ban does take place, I'm not sure it's coming at the right time. It may improve the situation or worsen it," he said.

"A worst-case scenario might be a full-scale guerrilla war. It also depends on the LTTE's reaction and if it wants to deal with members of EU member-states after a likely ban. We are prepared to work in Sri Lanka even under new conditions," Mr. Henricsson said.
Yesterday, LTTE’s chief negotiator Anton Balasingham issued a fresh caveat that a ban could deter any future peace talks.
"The EU is set to blacklist the LTTE as a terrorist organisation, hoping such a punitive action will force the LTTE to the negotiating table, irrespective of the ground reality. I gravely doubt that the LTTE leadership will bow to pressure and humiliation. As such this move will be counterproductive. Faced with global isolation and humiliation, the LTTE may be compelled to stay away from further talks," Mr. Balasingham said.

At the meetings to formalize the ban, each member state will be able to decide on the legal and practical implications that will govern an organization listed as a terrorist group in its country, diplomats said.
"It's now not a question of 'if' but ‘when’. It is going to be done," the officials said, adding that the formalization would take place before the May 30 Co-chairs’ meeting in Tokyo.

The draft for proscription is finalized and ready.
The Sunday Times last week exclusively reported that the EU was mulling slapping a ban on the Tigers, including an asset-freeze.
EU is one among the four principal parties along with the United States, Japan and Norway that have led international support for Sri Lanka's quest for peace.

Norway’s International Development minister and former special envoy Erik Solheim in a telephone interview with The Sunday Times said that Oslo as facilitator could not have an opinion since the two parties had contradictory stands on the matter of proscription.

“It will not affect Norway since we are not a party to the EU list," he said.
The heat of a proscription will largely be felt in Europe and not in Sri Lanka.
Europe accounts for about 200,000-strong Tamil diaspora, whose financial support over the years has strengthened the LTTE. It's not difficult to gauge the impact of a ban, which would also mean a moratorium on travel, restrictions on diplomatic contacts, bar on fund-raising and propaganda activities.
In Sri Lanka, EU members’ direct contact with funds associated with the LTTE will be a problem, a senior official involved in the process said on condition of anonymity. This would make dealings with NGOs such as the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization difficult.
But he stressed this did not mean that EU governments will starve off humanitarian aid or work and force the people of the north and east to suffer as a result of the ban. On the contrary, such assistance will continue, he assured.
On Wednesday, following the European Parliament Resolution on the situation in Sri Lanka, Members of the European Parliament said in a statement that they "deplore the gross violations of the ceasefire agreement by the LTTE."
It condemned the Tigers' recruitment of child soldiers, acknowledged that the LTTE was not the sole representative of Tamils and pressed EU states to freeze LTTE associated bank accounts, holdings, companies and undertakings.
The statement also urged the government to uphold human rights while reiterating supports for President Mahinda Rajapaksa's peace efforts.

Britain is the only EU member-state to ban the Tigers since 2001. However, EU nations, imposed travel restrictions on the LTTE in September, a month after the assassination of foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar.

As a result of the EU travel ban, the LTTE delegation that participated at the Geneva talks in February, was given a national visa by the Swiss and also by Norway, thereby restricting travel to other European states on a Shenzhen visa.Neither Switzerland nor Norway is a EU member.

There was no indication so far of the LTTE planning to sever ties with monitors representing EU states but Mr. Balasingham has issued a warning that a ban could spell war in Sri Lanka.

The government refuted the claims and expressed hope that the LTTE would interpret the international moves as a means to desist from violence and re-engage in the peace process.The stepped-up moves to proscribe the LTTE came amid the strongest indications that Sri Lanka was sliding back to war and heavy pressure from the United States on the EU to follow its lead and ban the Tiger group. The US listed the LTTE as a terrorist organization in 1997.
US assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Camp advocated the ban last week during a visit to Colombo.

"We have encouraged the EU to list the LTTE. We think the LTTE is very deserving of that label," Mr. Camp said. We think it will help cut off financial supplies and weapons procurement and the like."