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The Government of Sri Lanka announced yesterday (07) evening that the Cabinet had taken a unanimous
decision, in accordance with a memorandum submitted by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, to proscribe the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam(LTTE), which continued to engage in blatant human rights violations.
The Cabinet had taken the decision as repeated requests to the aforesaid organization to eschew terrorism and participate in the democratic process had failed.
32 countries had banned the LTTE and the Government decision to proscribe the outfit would further hinder its capability to garner support locally as well as internationally for their terror acts.
President Rajapaksa had given the Tigers several ultimatums before imposing the ban with the latest coming as a warning on New Year eve to either free civilians held in bondage in north or face a ban. As the Tigers had failed to heed the call the Government had taken this decision,
the Minister added. It would provide effective support by laws coming into effect where any organization or individual convicted of helping the banned LTTE could face up to 20 years of imprisonment.
The LTTE was first banned in 1998, after it bombed the Dalada Maligawa. The ban was lifted in September, 2002, ahead of the peace talks following the Ceasefire Agreement. The LTTE had insisted that the ban should be removed before it could consider participation in peace talks. The
Proclamation of the President proscribing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) under Chapter 40 of the Public Security Ordinance gave several reasons for the proscription.
They included inter alia committing acts of terrorism and other forms of violence, with the aim of establishing a separate state of Tamil Eelam in the Northern and Eastern parts of Sri Lanka, engaging in armed conflict with the Security Forces and the Police, assassination of
persons of high political office, members of the security forces and the Police and civilians, causing death and destruction to lives and property, threatening the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic, failure to eschew violence, lay down arms and, surrender and
participate in the democratic process, keeping civilians in the North and East as hostages and using them as human shields, preventing humanitarian relief reaching the population, illegal procurement and smuggling of arms, using child soldiers, and adversely affecting international
and regional peace.
Courtesy: Daily News
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