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A major challenge

The unveiling of the LTTE's proposals for the Interim Self-Governing Authority created a huge controversy in October. Foes of the LTTE and most neutral observers contended that the proposals exceeded a federal framework. Many foreign dignitaries, notably EU External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten, upheld their viewpoint. Some claimed that the LTTE was in fact demanding a separate state in all but name.

With the LTTE demanding that future talks be held on the basis of this document, the challenge before Southern polity is to reconcile these proposals within the framework of a unified Sri Lanka. It is clear that the LTTE has included its maximum expectations in the proposals, knowing very well that some of them could never be realistically implemented. It would be naive for the LTTE to believe that a Government would agree to all their demands. Negotiations would not be needed if that were the case.

It is in this context that we should analyse President Chandrika Kumaratunga's discussion with top-level experts in Colombo on the LTTE proposals. The meeting examined ways of reconciling the LTTE proposals with a unified Sri Lanka framework.

This is a timely move, considering that the peace process cannot be held in limbo for all time. The country has to move forward with the peace drive, regardless of the political developments. Peace talks have not been held since April.

The ceasefire has held, despite Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's assertion that he would not be taking responsibility for maintaining it. The LTTE, on its part, has promised to abide by the truce until the Southern political stalemate is resolved. It is therefore vital for the Southern political establishment to reach a consensus on accommodating LTTE demands within the framework of a unitary Sri Lanka using available models of devolution. Almost all Southern political parties agree that there cannot be a military solution to the North-East conflict.

Negotiations would be inevitable at some point of time. This position must continue, even if there is a change of government. The SLFP-JVP alliance has identified restoring the peace talks as a priority and has indicated that it will initiate talks with the LTTE, allaying the fears of peace-loving sections of the populace.

When peace talks re-commence, the government delegation must be expanded to represent political and ethnic forces which were earlier excluded. The UNF government refused to accommodate a nominee of the President in the government delegation and representations by the Muslims for a Muslim delegation were also ignored.

* Southern politicians must reach a consensus in this regard and present their case in one voice to the LTTE.

In the meantime, rehabilitation efforts must continue in the North-East, lest the people in those areas lose their faith in attempts to usher in peace. The international community has pledged to help the rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts and these funds should not be allowed to go waste.

This is probably the message that international donors will convey to the government and the LTTE at the second follow-up meeting of the Tokyo Donor's Conference which will be chaired by Japan's special envoy Yasushi Akashi on January 23. Political stability and coherence in the South will be vital to the success of peace and rehabilitation efforts. Political leaders must thus shed their differences and work together to bring peace.

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Child soldiers

Some of them have never seen a pencil, but they have all seen a gun. A ruler is alien to them, but not a rocket-propelled grenade. They know only the cruelty of war, not the serenity of peace. They live in a different world where the joy of childhood is obliterated by the harshness of combat.

These children doing adults' work - child soldiers - are engaged in wars across the globe. And their numbers are rising. Last year saw a massive increase in recruitment of child soldiers in conflicts around the world, according to a human rights report issued last week. Increasingly, terrorists and warlords seem to be using children not only as soldiers per se, but also as spies, sex slaves and labourers.

This is a very dangerous trend that exacerbates an acute crisis. Child soldiers enjoy virtually no human rights, including the right to education. They are often illiterate, malnourished and mistreated. Being away from parents for years adds a severe mental strain. Physical combat, let alone the other pitiless tasks assigned to child soldiers, leaves psychological scars that take a lifetime to heal.

Yet, rehabilitating child soldiers and integrating them into the society is essential. This is precisely the aim of a worldwide UNICEF initiative against the use of child soldiers. A prime example is the UNICEF plan to phase-out the LTTE's baby brigades, where both parties have agreed on a roadmap for the rehabilitation of child combatants. They are working together on a US$ 14 million project to reintegrate child soldiers and nearly 50,000 war affected children in the North-East. The LTTE has also pledged not to recruit more children.

The LTTE leadership must ensure that this message is clearly heard by all its area leaders, as there still are occasional reports of child abductions by LTTE cadres. Any such attempts are likely to negate the progress achieved so far in rehabilitating former child fighters.

However, on a global scale, we cannot hope to eliminate the recruitment and deployment of child soldiers in a matter of months. UNICEF can show the way, but the initiative to abandon this abhorrent practice must come from the groups that use child soldiers.

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