Continued from yestertady
POWERS OF THE ISGA
The question "What are the powers demanded by
the LTTE for the ISGA?" could be answered truthfully and
comprehensively with just one word, namely, "Everything".
However, since such a laconic but accurate answer would not
satisfy the reader, that question is answered in greater detail
below.
I. Legislative and Executive Powers
Clause 9.1 of the LTTE’s demand for an ISGA
reads:
"Jurisdiction of the ISGA
The ISGA shall have plenary powers for
the governance of the North-East (sic) including
powers in relation to resettlement, rehabilitation, and
development, including improvement and upgrading of existing
services and facilities (hereinafter referred to as RRRD),
raising revenue including imposition of taxes,
revenue, levies and duties, law and order and
over land.
These powers shall include all powers and
functions in relation to regional administration exercised by
the GOSL’ in and for the North-East" (sic) [emphasis added]
Since the territory of the Republic of Sri Lanka
is made up of its several ‘Regions’ called "Provinces", the
powers exercised by its Government for the administration of the
Republic is comprised of the sum of the powers exercised by it
in and in respect of such ‘Regions’. Accordingly the provisions
of Clause 9 above constitute a demand that every single
legislative and executive power exercised by the Government in
respect of the governance of the country shall, in respect of
the Northern and Eastern Provinces, be vested in and exercised
exclusively by the ISGA and hence the LTTE.
II. Judicial Powers
Clause 10, under the heading "Separation of
Powers" reads:
"Separate institutions for the administration
of justice shall be established for the North-East (sic) and
judicial powers shall be vested in such institutions. The ISGA
shall take appropriate measures to ensure the independence of
the judges.
Subject to Clause 4 (Human Rights) and 22
(Settlement of Disputes) of this Agreement, the institutions
created under this clause shall have sole and exclusive
jurisdiction to resolve all disputes concerning the
interpretation and implementation of this agreement and any
other disputes arising in or under this agreement or any
provision thereof ‘ [emphasis added]
Clause 4 which appears under the heading
"Human Rights " commences with some sugary words expressing
the alleged commitment of the ISGA to preserve and act in
strict compliance with "internationally accepted standards of
human rights protection" proceeds to state:
"There shall be an independent Human Rights
Commission appointed by the ISGA which shall ensure the
compliance with all such human rights obligations The
Commission shall be entitled to receive petitions from any
individual person, award compensation to any such affected
person, and ensure that such person’s rights are restored."
[emphasis added]
Clause 22 which appears under the heading
"Settlement of Disputes" provides that if any dispute relating
to the interpretation of "this agreement" which cannot be
resolved by any other means arises between the Government and
the LTTE, that dispute shall be determined by arbitration by a
panel of three arbitrators of whom one shall be appointed by the
Government and one by the LTTE and the chairperson jointly by
the Government and the LTTE or, if they cannot agree by the
President of the International Court of Justice. This Clause
further provides that:
"In the determination of any dispute the
arbitrators shall ensure the parity of status of the LTTE and
the GOSL and shall resolve disputes by reference only to the
provisions of this Agreement.
The decision of the arbitrators shall be final
and conclusive and it shall be binding on the parties to the
dispute. " [emphasis added]
The meaning and effect of these provisions is
crystal clear. If the ISGA is established:
firstly, the jurisdiction of all our Courts
from the Supreme Court downwards in respect of every inch of
the territory of our Northern and Eastern Provinces will be
effectively abolished from the date of the establishment of
the ISGA: and, secondly, that jurisdiction will be vested
entirely in a ‘judiciary’ to be established by the ISGA which
will necessarily be the ‘Kangaroo Courts’ of the LTTE now
functioning in those areas under their control and others like
them to be set up in those parts of the Northern and Eastern
Provinces which are presently ruled by the Government, and in
the so called "Human Rights Commission" which is to be
established by the ISGA.
Since the ISGA will be under the total control
of the LTTE, it follows of necessity that that proposed
‘judiciary’ and ‘Human Rights Commission’ will be established
and controlled by a coterie of thugs of the LTTE under the
leadership of Prabhakaran a.k.a Pirapaharan whose respect for
and commitment to the preservation of ‘Human Rights’ is only
equalled by the respect the late Adolf Hitler had for the Jews
and his commitment to their welfare !!!
The ‘sacking’ of the entire judiciary of the
Republic of Sri Lanka including the Supreme Court in respect of
the entirety of our Northern and Eastern Provinces and all
matters pertaining to the ISGA which is envisaged in the LTTE’s
demand is confirmed beyond doubt by the second limb of Clause 10
which provides that it is the ‘judiciary’ to be established by
the ISGA which will have "sole and exclusive jurisdiction" in
respect of the interpretation and implementation of "this
Agreement" [i.e. the demand for an ISGA] and any matter
pertaining thereto. This provision clearly envisages that in the
event of any dispute arising between the Government and the ISGA
[which is just another name for the LTTE] in respect of the
Agreement between the Government and the LTTE by which the ISGA
is established, neither the Supreme Court nor any other Court of
the Republic of Sri Lanka will have even a morsel of
jurisdiction in respect of such dispute, but that it is only the
‘Kangaroo Courts’ of the LTTE that will have jurisdiction in
respect of such matters. What this means is that the LTTE
demands that while it will not submit itself in any way to the
jurisdiction of the Supreme Court or any Court duly established
by the laws of the sovereign Republic of Sri Lanka, the
sovereign Republic of Sri Lanka must submit itself to the
jurisdiction of the ‘Kangaroo Courts’ of the LTTE in the event
of any dispute arising between the Government and the ISGA/LTTE
in respect of such Agreement ! ! Thus, the demand of the LTTE
for an ISGA is not merely a demand for the creation of a
separate state in our Northern and Eastern Provinces and for
"equality" of status between the LTTE and the Government of the
sovereign Republic of Sri Lanka, but a demand for the
subservience of that Government to the LTTE in its proposed
re-incarnation as an ISGA.
Clause 22, [the last two paragraphs whereof are
pregnant with meaning] read with the second limb of Clause 10
shows the LTTE wearing ‘two hats’. As has been demonstrated in
Chapter One, the ISGA will be nothing more or less than the LTTE
itself in a not too different guise. The second limb of Clause
10 visualizes the judicial resolution of disputes between all
persons and institutions including the Government and the ISGA
in respect of the proposed Agreement for an ISGA by the
‘Kangaroo Courts’ of the LTTE, while Clause 22 visualizes the
resolution by arbitration of disputes between the LTTE [not the
ISGA] and the Government, with equality of status with the
Government being accorded to the LTTE and no less a person than
the President of the International Court of Justice being called
upon to appoint a chairperson of the panel of arbitrators where
the Government and the LTTE cannot reach agreement. Thus, in
terms of these provisions, the LTTE can, whenever it has a
dispute with the Government in respect of the proposed Agreement
for an ISGA, at its sole option, wear the hat of the ISGA and
cause it to be resolved by one or more of its ‘Kangaroo Courts’
or wear the hat of the LTTE and cause it to be resolved by
arbitration. The Government of the sovereign Republic of Sri
Lanka, of course, would have no option but to comply with
whatever option is chosen by the LTTE.
The two final paragraphs of Clause 22, while
being absolutely obnoxious in according equality to a gang of
despicable terrorists called the LTTE and the Government of the
sovereign Republic of Sri Lanka, emphasizes the fact made
evident by the other provisions of the said demand, that neither
the Constitution nor any law of that sovereign Republic would
have any relevance or application to any part of the Northern
and Eastern Provinces of our Motherland in terms of the demand
for an ISGA - for it provides that the arbitrators shall resolve
the disputes submitted to them "by reference only to the
provisions of this Agreement" - i.e. that the Constitution of
the sovereign Republic of Sri Lanka and all its laws duly
enacted will have as much relevance as the tales of the
‘Brothers Grimm’ to the resolution of such disputes!!!
Finally, the role accorded to the President of
the International Court of Justice is just one more pointer to
the fact that that which is intended to be established as an
ISGA is not a mere Provincial Administration or a Government of
a Federated State but a Government of a sovereign State of Tamil
Eelam.
(Continued tomorrow)
