Sri Lanka Support Group, Canberra

It is believed Eric Soheim was instrumental in creating the separate state of South ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Sudan. Norway, with help of the West threatened Omar Al Baashir that unless he agreed to hold a referendum on South Sudan, war crimes charges against him (in relation to the Darfur conflict where it is alleged that up to 400,000 people died) will be vigorously pursued. By then the UN Security Council had passed a resolution to refer Al Baashir to the War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague (in 2009).ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The HagueƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s prosecutor, Acampo, ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ quickly issued an indictment against him. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Note, China, the great ally of Al Baashir, also voted in favour of the Security CouncilƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s resolution. Afterwards, Al Baashir was vulnerable to be arrested, he evaded foreign trips. He knew that the only way to avoid the Hague was to allow the UN to hold a referendum and he consented to same.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The UN held the referendum and it was passed with 99% of the vote, thus the new nation of SouthƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Sudan was born, in 2010. A special invitation was extended to Tamil separatists to attend the inauguration ceremony. Tissa Witharana represented Sri Lanka.

The birth of the new nation, South Sudan, did not stop violence between North and South Sudan, in fact the conflict escalated. It is reported ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ since inauguration ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ up to 6,000 people ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ have died on boarder wars between the two nations. The good thing for Al Baashir is that the West somewhat gave up the hounding ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ down of him. Apparently Al Baashir is now safe and freely travels within Africa, including a trip to Egypt recently. He also travelled to China (in 2011). None of the western assets he hold were frozen (it is alleged he had invested US$ 9 billion with LloyydƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Bank in the UK, the bank had denied this).

The West by linking the Sudanese war crimes allegations with the South Sudan referendum was engaged in an unethical act. They were two separate issues.

By threatening to bring war crimes charges against Sri Lanka, the West is trying the same tactic again ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” hoping that like Al Baashir, Sri Lanka will also one day consent to a referendum – confined to the voters of northern and eastern Sri Lanka,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  asking them whether or not they wish to remain within one Sri Lanka or wish to live in a new country. (Al Baashir failed to stress that it should be a Sudan-wide referendum).

Sri Lanka should strenuously fight against the fraudulent war crimes allegationsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  made against its leaders and the war heroes , but, at the same time, it should not fall into the same trap that North Sudan fell into. Today the people of North Sudan curse Omar Al Baashir for consenting ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ to hold the referendum. The Muslim North Sudan has become poorer, the Christian South Sudan ended up owning the rich oil wells.

We live in an era today where new nations are constantly being created. Kosovo is a creation entirely by the international world ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” it was created despite the severe opposition by its former ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”ownerƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ Serbia. They had the support of Russia and China, but still failed. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ East Timor was created due to bunglings by the then Indonesian Presidents, Gus Dur and Sukharnopoutri (note during the strong leader, SuhartoƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s time, he held on to East Timor). Other recent examples of the creation of new countries are ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…”Eritrea, South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Ingushetia, Then, all the new nations that emerged from the old Soviet Union.

The US and India demand Sri Lanka to hold the northern provincial council election soon (in September 2013). This has been acknowledged in the recent Geneva Resolutions also. They know once the Land and Police powers are given to the two provincial governments (north and east) (it is possible that with the SLMMƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s support both provincial governments can be led by the TNA), it is possible for the two provinces to re-merge and make a claim to secede from Sri Lanka.

If the two powers are not given, the northern provincial government may seek redress from the Sri Lankan Supreme Court. How the ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Sri Lankan Supreme Court would address their grievance, it is premature to say. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ They will also appeal to the West and India, who will squeeze Sri Lanka using the UN machinery such as Geneva, Security Council and the General Assembly.

In our previous media releases we have clearly shown that giving Land and Police powers to the northern and eastern provincial governments will lead to creationƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  of theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Tamil Elam ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” name of the new nation is immaterial now, it is more likely to be called ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”North Eastern Sri Lanka. The truth is that the new nation will be led by the TNA or a different Tamil group that is very closely aligned with Tamilnadu.

Like what is happening on the boarders ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  north and south Sudan now, boarder wars will erupt between North Eastern Sri Lanka and Southern Sri Lanka. Thousands of people from both sides may die, including civilians. The ex-Tamil Tigers (about 11,000 of them), will be the leading fighters for the new country. It is likely that at least preliminarily,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  mainly due to the direct military support from Tamilnadu, the war unready Southern Sri Lanka will suffer heavy casualties.

The only way to avoid this (forming of a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”South SudanƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ in northern Sri Lanka) is to do the following:

Abolish the 13^th AmendmentƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  – then there will be no provincial governments in Sri Lanka including the TNA led northern (and possibly eastern) provincial government. There will be no necessityƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  to implement the LLRC recommendations, and there will be no requirement to hold a provincial government election in the north in September this year or any other time.

How to abolish the 13^th Amendment (either of the below 3 ways would be sufficient) ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…”

1. By way of an island wide referendum (see our media release below, dated 29 March 2013)
2. Obtain a declaration from the Sri Lankan Supreme Court that the 13^th amendment is void ab initio (can also use the reasons articulated by the late Supreme Court Justice Raja Wanasundera). Any ordinary citizen can bring in the Supreme Court Application.
3. By an enactment – passed with 2/3 majority in theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Parliament (see the fine and refreshing statement to ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”the IslandƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ by the Sri Lankan Defence Secretary ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” Lankaweb, 29 March 2013

We believe the 1^st method is more appropriate and that process has ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ more credibility than the other two. The 3^rd method is the easiest but will be the least acceptable to the US and India. Once the 1^st method is successfullyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  completed, to fully abide by the Constitution and impress the world, the 2^nd and 3^rd steps, especially the 3^rd, , should be followed.

Some of the big mistakes Sri Lanka made after the end of the warƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  (we are not discounting the many good things that the government has done):

1. Upon PrabhakaranƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s death, Sri Lanka failed to articulate to the whole world that there exists no ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, only ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ a terrorism problem existed and it was successfully defeated. We should have stressed that all people live in peace, harmony and unity and there exists no discrimination of people on ethnic ground (eg. more than 40% of ColomboƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s population is Tamil and they live in harmony with the Sinhalese. Tamils run most of the businesses in Colombo). There is no necessity to consider political solutions when no political problems exist.
2. Released the murderous Tamil Tigers (about 11,000) ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ back into society in the belief that they have been rehabilitatedƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” this may boomerang on us one day. The correct thing that should have been done was to prosecute the ex-Tigers after establishing a special judicial commission (like how the JVPers were prosecuted at end of the 1971 insurrection) and release only those who have been totally innocent,- not almost all of the combatants that were captured with difficulty. Note Cambodia is currently prosecuting the murderous Khamer Rouge guerillas through a special tribunal, more than 30 years after the end of thatƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  war.
3. Failed to internationally ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”marketƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ the many good things that the government has doneƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  including the prompt resettlement of the IDPs
4. Failed to adequatelyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  confront the Channel 4 fabrications and nip the wrong accusations in bud, mainly by our Foreign Ministry (we note the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Lies Agreed UponƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢, which was excellent) . The Channel 4 went ahead and produced further 3 or 4 videos. They may produce more.
5. Failed to very comprehensively respond to the Darusman report.
6. Failed to adequately confront the foreign NGOs including human rights organisations who have produced incorrect reports about Sri Lanka.
7. Failed to initiate legal action against Channel 4 and ABC Four Corners (Sri LankaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Support Group went into great extent in this regard, but, unfortunately failed, it is still ready to take up the task), Mr Gordon Weiss, The UK Guardian newspaper etc. We can say the prospects of success in defamation are good.
8. Failed to convince or failed in trying to convince the West (ie, their politicians) that their perception about Sri Lanka is wrongƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  and that the Tamil Diaspora and their allies are spreading false, concocted stories about SriƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Lanka and that they should not be believed, but the Sri Lankan government.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  For this, just like the Tamil Diaspora, after identifying the correct people ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ we ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ should have lobbied them on a continuous and regular basis ( it is still not too late to do this).ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Only people with excellent diplomatic and communication skills are able to handle this type of arduous tasks, unfortunately, they were not engaged, but unqualified people were used to do the difficult job. Lots of money was wasted on foreign PR agencies, law firms etc. who had no real knowledge about Sri Lanka.
9. Indicated to give 13+ to India and may have sent inconsistent messages to India.
10. Appointed a LLRC Commission basically to please the WestƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  and somewhat encouraged the Commission to write a strenuous report about Sri Lanka. They came up with almost impossible to implement recommendations. This is hugely boomeranging on us now.
11. Failed to obtain assistance from the patriotic Sri Lankan (mainly Sinhala) Diaspora scattered throughout the world for the just cause
12. Unlike the Tamil Diaspora, we failed to bring in the foreign (ie, western) allies of Sri Lanka (say, the politicians, academics, doctors, lawyers, journalists etc.) under oneƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  umbrella.
13. Failed to mount an international campaign to expose and/or prosecute the Tamil Diaspora who are LTTE members or strong sympathisers in their respective countries.
14. Failed to assist the displaced Sinhalese and Muslim people to be re-settled in the north and east.
15. Failed to formulate a Lawyers Front (comprised of patriotic lawyers who have a sound knowledge on international and Human Rights laws) to advise the government and our foreign missions, rebut the human rights and other wrong allegations made by the West, NGOs and the Tamil Diaspora against Sri Lanka. Note the very effective Lawyers Front of the ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Tamil Diaspora .
16. Agreed to hold the Northern Provincial Council Election in September 2013.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  (see our media release below of 29 March 2013).
17. Concentrated on mega development projects for the north and east which have borne little yield and many of the ex-Tigers are still unemployed (this failure applies to the whole country).ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  What the Government should have done was to use the precious borrowed monies for micro- economicƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  projects (eg. giving Gramin Bank type loans to the citizens to overcome poverty, build their houses/toilets, self-employment projects etc, and spend monies on public health/sanitation, education and restoration of irrigation tanks etc).

srilankasupportgroup@bigpond.com