An eight-member sub-committee on Immediate Humanitarian Needs in the North-East will be headed by LTTE’s SP Thamilchelvan and government nominee Bernard Goonetilleke. This committee has the responsibility of identifying needs, implementing agencies and allocating funds for projects. The committee is expected to involve local communities, local labour and local institutions.
Funding for the committee will be the subject of an international conference on aid in Oslo on 25 November, arranged by the Norwegian government. The conference is aimed at mobilizing financial support for immediate needs, particularly resettlement of internal refugees, rehabilitation of women and children and provision of livelihood for people affected by war in the north-east region.
The sub-committee on De-escalation and Normalization, led by Defence Secretary Austin Fernando and LTTE’s Eastern commander Karuna, will examine ways and means of ensuring resettlement, return of private property and resumption of economic activity, while accommodating the security concerns of both parties. This committee was appointed in light of problems caused by occupation of buildings by the military and high security zones which are inaccessible to the public.
Agreement was also reached that Mr Hakeem and Col. Karuna will work together to improve relations between Tamils and Muslims, in accordance with the agreement signed on 13 April by Mr Hakeem and LTTE leader V Prabhakaran. The Tigers had been earlier demanding the establishment of an interim administration for the north-east region. President Kumaratunge opposes any administration under LTTE control, before an agreement on political issues aimed at solving to the conflict. Further, the SLMC has been insisting that the decision on their demand for a separate unit of devolution in the Eastern Province should be finalised before establishment of any interim administration. There may also be legal and constitutional impediments to the setting up of such an administration. In light of these difficulties, the LTTE’s decision to drop the demand has been welcome.
After the peace talks, referring to the concerns of human rights agencies, Mr Peiris said that the government and the LTTE subscribe to the principle of application of human rights standards. Mr Balasingham announced that international human rights expert Ian Martin will participate in future sessions of the peace talks. Mr Martin is a former secretary general of Amnesty International and currently the Vice President of the International Centre for Transnational Justice. The role of Mr Martin in the peace talks, however, is unclear.
In Thailand, Norwegian Deputy Foreign minister Vidar Helgesen described the talks as constructive and expressed delight that the outcome exceeded expectations. But in Sri Lanka, serious problems arose in October, which may affect the peace process. On the first day of peace talks, the Colombo High Court sentenced Mr Prabhakaran to 200 years imprisonment for involvement in the Colombo Central Bank bombing in January 1996. The suicide assault killed 76 people. The court also ordered confiscation of assets and issued a warrant for his arrest. He was tried in absence.
Mr Peiris assured that the peace process will not be affected and said that the court decision demonstrated the independence of the judiciary. Tamil observers argue that the timing of the court decision is a clear indication that the judiciary is not independent. Mr Balasingham says that the LTTE would consider past violence as acts of war in the armed struggle against the state and points out that the Sri Lankan government has also committed acts which can be characterized as war crimes.
Responding to suggestions for a blanket amnesty, the NGO-led National Peace Council (NPC) says such action will effectively whitewash over crimes of the past, further perpetuating a culture of impunity, currently expressed by institutionalised political violence, torture in custody and systematic cover-up of crimes by law-enforcement officers. The NPC advocates country-wide discussions on the issue and establishment of mechanisms for the recognition of war crimes.
In October, the Sri Lankan Supreme Court struck down two constitutional amendments initiated by the government. The Court rejected the 18th Amendment which exempted Constitutional Council members from the fundamental rights provisions of the Constitution. The court also declared that the conscience vote clause of the 19th Amendment is illegal and the provisions for reducing powers of the President relating to dissolution of Parliament need a two-thirds majority in the legislature and approval by the people in a national referendum. Observers say that the government’s failure has strengthened the hand of the President.