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The Peace Support Group wishes to reiterate its concerns regarding the peace process. Whilst the June Tokyo donor conference reaffirmed the support of the international community for the peace process in Sri Lanka, we note that a number of factors ranging from the deadlock in negotiations to political assassinations and incidents at sea, have underscored the pivotal importance of the re-commencement of direct negotiations and of strengthening public confidence in the continuing success of the peace process.

LTTE women cadres - commitment to pluralism needed

In respect of the Tokyo donor conference and the peace through development process, our concerns pertain to the proportion of funds pledged as loans and the impact of this on the overall indebtedness of Sri Lanka. In addition, we wish to emphasise the central importance of sufficient consultation and participation of affected communities in the decision making and prioritization of programmes for relief, rehabilitation and development in the North and East.

Regarding the latter, it is critically important that the different nature and scale of the immediate needs of the North and East as a consequence of the war, be communicated effectively to the rest of the country together with the fact that the vast bulk of donor funds hitherto disbursed has been to areas outside this region.

PSG has always held that a vital and integral element of the peace process is the recognition and provision of strong human rights protections from the outset. Peace cannot be built on disregard for fundamental human rights and in a climate of fear and insecurity. A demonstrable commitment to human rights by all actors is indispensable to the success and legitimacy of the peace process.

Accordingly, we note the recent spate of political assassinations in the North and East. The victims have been members and supporters of political parties opposed to the LTTE and have included local leaders, members of elected bodies as well as candidates in the recently postponed local government elections, party workers and persons no longer engaged in active political life. The assassination of T. Subathiran of the EPRLF marks a qualitative shift in the targeting of victims to include local party leaders and reflects the persistence of a high level of intolerance and the belief in the use of violence to crush and silence dissent.

PSG unequivocally condemns these murders and calls upon

* the GOSL to fulfil its responsibilities for the security and protection of all citizens wherever they reside,

* the LTTE to demonstrate its commitment to pluralism and democracy both in word and deed, and

* the international community to impress upon the GOSL and the LTTE the above as being of paramount importance.

Greater inclusiveness

Whilst the UNF Government and the LTTE are clearly the principal actors, founding both peace and development on the assumption that they are the only actors will result in the marginalization of others and undermine the key objective of nurturing wide and inclusive stakeholdership of the peace process. In addition, exclusion and marginalization of other political actors will also undermine the key objective of fostering democracy and pluralism throughout Sri Lanka.

In this context, we wish to strongly emphasise the pivotal importance of bipartisanship between the PA and the UNF on the direction and destination of the peace process and the consolidation of the ceasefire. The inability and/or unwillingness of these two main parties to forge a consensus on these issues creates and sustains a climate of political uncertainty which adversely affects the peace process.

Media reports that neither the Minister of Defence nor the Prime Minister were aware of the naval attack on the LTTE ship and the contradictory statements issued by the Ministry of Defence and the Presidential Secretariat are a recent example of this. A situation wherein the armed forces of the State are receiving orders from two sources poses a danger to national security and the peace process and we call on the Government to speedily resolve the issue of control of the armed forces through discussions with the President.

Bi-partisanship between the PA and the UNF is necessary for the successful culmination of negotiations and to the acceptance of a final constitutional settlement irrespective of which party constitutes the government of the day. Therefore, it is the duty and responsibility of these two parties to take meaningful steps towards it as a matter of national importance.

Interim arrangements

The prevailing deadlock in the re-commencement of direct negotiations centres around the LTTE request for a politico administrative structure of the North and East. As reported in the media, the GOSL has been communicating its response to the LTTE. PSG reiterates the position taken in its statement of 27 May, prior to the donor conference. In particular that:

"... it is most important to ensure that all interim arrangements that are agreed as part of the ongoing process of negotiations are properly monitored and are democratic, accountable and consistent with the Sri Lankan Constitution. While constitutional consideration may make it difficult to devise ideal mechanisms and to satisfy all demands in the interim period, there must be consensus, compromise and co-operation. It is also important to remind all parties committed to the peace process that these mechanisms are merely part of an interim arrangement and that a full and open dialogue must continue throughout the entire process that we may arrive at a final political settlement based on the principle of federalism and internal self-determination in a united Sri Lanka.

We wish to emphasise that a resumption of talks is pivotal to breaking the prevailing deadlock and that commitment and imagination is required to move the peace process forward.

Incidents at sea

PSG also notes with deep concern the incidents at sea resulting in the sinking of an LTTE vessel reportedly transporting arms and the loss of some twelve lives. We call upon the GOSL and the LTTE together with the Norwegian facilitators and the SLMM to review the ceasefire agreement in light of these repeated incidents at sea and to take the necessary steps to augment the effectiveness and credibility of the ceasefire agreement and procedures instituted under it. We also note the issue that has surfaced over the LTTE camp in Kinniya. The SLMM has asked the LTTE to dismantle the camp and they have refused to do so. In this context we wish to emphasise that the SLMM cannot fulfil its mandate without the co-operation of both sides and call upon the LTTE to cooperate with the SLMM in resolving this issue.

Rights of returnees

The problem of displaced persons who cannot return to their homes due to the presence of High Security Zones continues to be a festering problem in the North and East, and particularly in the Jaffna Peninsula, which has a very high concentration of armed forces personnel. The recent Pongu Thamil demonstrations held in Jaffna highlighted this problem. We are concerned that when problems are allowed to fester and no steps towards a solution are taken, more and more extreme manifestations of opposition are encouraged which can endanger the peace process. The GOSL and the LTTE need to take stock of the present data and analysis they possess on this issue, and find ways to demilitarise the North and East so that all people who wish to return to their original places of habitation can do so.

PSG also wishes to highlight the plight of returnee IDPs and the situation they are placed in, where even a proportion of the financial entitlement due to them under the Unified Assistance Scheme (UAS) is not forthcoming.

A peace and development process that does not make a difference to the lives of ordinary people, alleviate their daily suffering and reaffirm their hope in the future will and cannot take hold. The political leadership of the GOSL and the LTTE must recognise this as being of pivotal importance and implement their commitment to the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement. Their failure to act will expose as hollow their commitment to peace and claims to legitimacy.

The cumulative impact of the failure to address the issues highlighted above, risks the erosion of public faith and confidence in the continuing success of the peace process. Expectation and optimism is being replaced by doubt, anxiety and fear. This is a trend that has to be reversed as a matter of the utmost priority. All political leaders have a primary responsibility to the people of Sri Lanka in ensuring this.

Signatories:

Sunila Abeysekera (sgn)

Sunil Bastian (sgn)

Sunanda Deshapriya (sgn)

Rohan Edirisinha (sgn)

Kethesh Loganathan (sgn)

Jehan Perera (sgn)

Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu (sgn)

Jeevan Thiagarajah (sgn)

Joe William (sgn)

Javid Yusuf (sgn)

(All Peace Support Group (PSG) statements could be accessed at: www.cpalanka.org/psg/psg.html)

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