The latest hoax of the LTTE, the special delegation to visit European countries, posing off as seekers of peace by attempting to recommence negotiations on the basis of the ISGA talks, has blown up in their face. Instead of the usual cordial welcome extended to them as representatives of an aggrieved community fighting for a just cause, three of the world’s leading human rights organisations-Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Commission of Jurists in a rare statement have plainly told them to end political killings, recruitment of child soldiers and respect international human rights law.

This clear and comprehensive statement of these three international human rights organisations will be ice cold water poured on the hot heads of the Tamil expatriate community who have been glibly attempting to refute the accusations by denying responsibility for such killings and obfuscating the issue such as calling for confidence building measures. To even consider any other organisation carrying out the gruesome murders of LTTE opponents and abduction of children would indeed be ridiculous to those acquainted with the Sri Lanka problem. But it is unfortunate that many of the foreigners who get involved in the Sri Lankan issue, do not have a clue to the horrendous nature of the LTTE such as that Canadian worthy Hon. J Layton, new leader of the Democratic Party of Canada who had drawn parallels between Nelson Mandela and Velupillai Prabakran! Such are the mental capacities of some western leaders who think in terms of vote banks of expatriate Tamils in some western capitals rather than the grim realities of a ruthless terroist organisation thousands of miles away.

Even these human rights organisations took a long time to come to terms of the fascist and racist nature of LTTE terrorism until it grew from a rag-tag band into a horrendous organisation. Even though belated, the call by these three human rights organisations in Geneva this week should be welcomed.

The EPRLF (Eelam Peoples Revolutionary Front) a former Tamil terroist organisation in a devastating statement issued yesterday said: ‘It is time for the international community, if they care for the wellbeing of the Tamil community as well as the people of Sri Lanka to demonstrate in clear unambiguous terms their disgust for the LTTE’s repression, political killings, child conscription and its imposition of a suicidal culture on the weak and vulnerable’

Regular readers of our editorial comments will identify an echo of our thinking in the statement of the EPRLF . We were called racist warmongers by peace brigades for calling the LTTE such rude names. But now not only former Tami militant parties but international human rights organisations have been compelled to come out with statements condemning the LTTE for its gross atrocities. Noting that the Cease- fire agreement has categorised killings, kidnappings and suicide attacks as violations of the agreement the EPRLF states: The SLMM (Norwegian manned monitoring mission) and the Sri Lanka law enforcement authorities ‘have not achieved even an iota of success in checking these violations, which occur now on a daily basis’.

The Secretary General of ICJ Nicholas Howen, after meeting the LTTE delegations has said: We appealed to the senior leaders of the LTTE to show the world that they’re both willing and capable of respecting the lives and rights of all citizens. We look to them to make a clear public commitment to international humanitarian and human rights standards and practical ways of putting them to effect’

These calls for the LTTE to conform to normal standards of human conduct are laughable, going by their gory past. The LTTE the determination is to eliminate one and all who stand in their way of achieving their objective be it Tamil, Muslim or Sinhalese, particuarly if they are Tamil.

But the two Sri Lanka governments since the Cease-fire have not shown any inclination to prevent the massacre of its own citizens by the terrorists and appear to have handed over the task to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission which says quite categorically that they do not have policing powers. The whole ‘Peace Process’ or handling of the resolution of the problem, appears to have been handed over to the SLMM and the ‘international community’ whose role has been confined to issuing of statements for which the LTTE has shown no regard at all.

The EPRLF statement calls for internationally recognised human rights practitioners to be included in the SLMM with special emphasis on areas where violations are prevalent.

But will that help when even the admonition of the United States: Give up terrorism in word and deed, has had no effect?

Quite obviously different strategies have to be adopted by both Sri Lanka and the international community, if the killings are to cease.

Perhaps, instead of treating LTTE representatives as minor potentates, they be arrested in European countries as well as in the US and Canada for being members of a proscribed terroist organisation with effective freezing of their funds that may help.