TRO sees ban as final nail in coffin of peace process

The TRO has condemned the government’s decision to ban the organization, saying it was an attempt to impose further restrictions on humanitarian relief to the Tamil people and the government’s ulterior motive is to unleash untold hardships on the Tamil people.

A TRO statement said when the government froze the TRO bank accounts, it sought to challenge the basis on which these funds were frozen and petitioned the High Court in Colombo to review and "vary or vacate" its order to freeze the accounts. The court refused to hear the case, saying it did not have the jurisdiction but it recognised the Government’s right to freeze the funds indefinitely for investigation.

"As a result of our bank accounts being frozen, our office documents and assets being confiscated by the security forces and our offices in government-controlled areas attacked and destroyed, we were forced in 2006 to close our offices in government-controlled areas of the North-East, leaving projects unfinished and war and tsunami affected persons in dire need. Through all this, the TRO continued to seek redress in the courts to overturn the account freeze,” the TRO statement said.

It said the TRO was founded in 1985 and prior to 2002, the group functioned effectively in the Wanni. It was only after the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) signed between the government and the LTTE in 2002 that the TRO, at the urging of the international community and with the assistance and advice of international organizations, registered in Colombo as a charity/NGO (Number L 50706) under the Social Services Act.

During this period, the TRO, as the largest NGO in the North-East, gave its full and unconditional support to peace efforts by creating confidence in the minds of the people that, after 20 years of war, the dawn of peace was at hand and by implementing development projects in collaboration with international organizations that promoted peace.

"With the banning of the TRO, the final nail in the coffin of the peace process has been hammered home. Today the pulse of the peace process has stopped and peace is a lifeless, dead body. It is a tragedy that the International Community, while ignoring the human rights abuses and violation of international humanitarian law by the government, continues to dangle this "dead peace", that the government continues to show no interest in pursuing, before the Tamil people", the TRO statement said.