The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission that was bragged and boasted despite its failure, recommended compensation to victims though it was given no mandate to award such.
Leaving aside awarding – where do they get the funds to award such compensation? Sri Lanka’s Parliament passed the Office for Reparations Act in 2018 (59-43 vote) insisted by US and allies.
No terrorist group or their families can be compensated from State funds prior to the victims of these terrorists being given compensation first. LTTE fronts must be asked to use their funds to compensate victims of LTTE before they are allowed to invest in Sri Lanka.
The LTTE comprised a ground force led by Prabhakaran and an international network that raised funds.
LTTE’s international headquarters was in London while LTTE had offices in Canada, US, EU, South Africa, Australia and operated from India and other nations in Asia.
All of the entities operating outside Sri Lanka functioned discretely probably due to fear of Velupillai Prabakaran. Most of the entities known as LTTE fronts were created after Prabakaran’s death and the elimination of LTTE ground force along with its top leaders.
Terrorists of the LTTE managed to flee overseas as refugees, some were helped to leave the country with assistance of foreign-funded NGOs on pretext of training and so on. Others applied as refugees or asylum seekers.
In May 2009 – Sri Lanka’s army ended 30 years of terrorism in a non-international battle by LTTE that remains banned by Sri Lanka and 32 countries.
Successive resolutions at the UNHRC aims to bring restorative justice to LTTE terrorists while applying retributive justice to Sri Lanka’s army using isolated incidents which have not been found guilty in any court of law.
Sri Lanka was never given any breathing space to recover from 30 years of terror by the very countries and international agencies that did nothing to stop LTTE terror but came forward with all sorts of templates and guidelines to handle post-war Sri Lanka, simply because they wanted to have some reason to influence Sri Lanka.
Victims of LTTE included Sinhalese, Muslims, Burghers even Tamils and foreigners.
It is these victims that should be given compensation not LTTE terrorists.
LTTE blurred distinction and denied civilian status to Tamils in view of LTTE having a civilian armed force. Any LTTE member of this civilian armed force dying in battle cannot be categorised as a civilian and international bodies cannot count them as civilian dead.
Civilians who voluntarily or forcibly engaged in hostilities and died too cannot claim civilian status. How far can UNHRC prove actual civilian deaths remain questionable.
LTTE terrorists comprised only Tamils though LTTE was supported by non-Tamils including foreigners and the Church covertly and overtly.
The GoSL failed to launch investigation into TNA and other political parties and politicians for their links to LTTE as well. The logic is anyone is accepted into the political system so long as they cease to separate Sri Lanka or involve themselves in acts of terror.
Victims must be compensated but who are the victims needs to be first defined?
Compensation must go to only civilians who were not involved in any LTTE terror act at the time of their death and to every person LTTE killed and any persons who died from military cross-fire.
Next question is – who is paying compensation?
Is it the countries that prevented Sri Lanka from ending terror when it could have decades earlier (India stopped the Sri Lanka Army from capturing Prabhakaran in 1987).
A group of 66 UNPers did not attend Parliament to vote for the Reparations Bill.
In other words they did not wish to vote to give compensation to LTTE.
A group of 43 UNP MPs voted to compensate LTTE (highlighted are some of the noteworthy MPs).
The Office of Missing Persons has no right to force Sri Lankan tax payers to give money to terrorists of a terrorist movement that remains banned in Sri Lanka.
The taxpayers have already funded their rehabilitation and resettlement as well as given State jobs.
If anyone feels that former combatants and their families should be compensated – they are welcome to channel these funds to the GoSL to be disbursed to them.
No terrorist group or their families can be compensated from State funds prior to the victims of these terrorists being given compensation first.
Ideally, the LTTE Diaspora who collected funds for LTTE across three decades and continue to do so must be held accountable. The LTTE Diaspora kitty must have enlarged as a result of savings. They no longer have to spend for LTTE fighting terrorists arms or ammunition or other logistics.
Thus the LTTE Diaspora kitty should be used to fund former LTTE terrorists and their families as well as families of Tamils who were killed by LTTE before being used for ‘investments’.
A Government is doing injustice to the real civilian victims that LTTE killed. Claims of Sri Lanka Army killing ‘civilians’ cannot be proved in either numbers or facts. So far the UN has failed to differentiate
* Civilians not involved in LTTE acts of terror.
* Civilians part of LTTE armed force.
* Civilians involved in hostilities (by force or voluntarily).
So long as UNHRC has failed to differentiate numbers and names all above cannot be given status quo as civilians and compensated with public funds.
The LTTE cannot use their kitty to invest while putting the Sri Lankan tax-payer in further debt to compensate LTTE and their families prior to compensating the victims of LTTE terrorism.
If the LTTE Diaspora are willing to send from their international kitty – it should go to a national fund that compensates the victims of LTTE first including Tamils killed by LTTE.
No country compensates terrorists.
A country must compensate victims of terror not the perpetrators of terror.
