Topic started by VP (@ 12.40.51.195) on Tue Mar 12 02:06:08 .
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http://usembassy.state.gov/srilanka/wwwhpr0311.html
U.S. Urges LTTE To Honor Ceasefire Agreement

Colombo, 11 March 2002 - We have heard credible reports that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are engaged in activities that could jeopardize the recent indefinite ceasefire accord reached with the Sri Lankan government. These reports recount increased LTTE recruitment in Sri Lanka’s north and east, including of children, as well as kidnapping and extortion, especially of Muslims. To be fair, we understand that incidents of recruitment, kidnapping and extortion have apparently decreased in recent days, a trend that we hope will continue.

There also have been credible reports of LTTE resupply operations since the ceasefire. Continued smuggling of weapons by the LTTE could undermine the trust needed to move from a cessation of hostilities to a lasting peace.

The U.S. understands that both sides, not just the LTTE, have responsibilities under the terms of the ceasefire accord. In the current international context, however, in which terrorism is being condemned in more and more countries, the LTTE should be especially vigilant about observing the terms of the ceasefire accord. If it does not, it will increase its international isolation and do harm to the group it claims to represent, Sri Lanka’s Tamils, who earnestly want an end to the war. On the other hand, if the LTTE chooses the path of peace, ends its reliance on terrorism, accepts that an independent “Eelam” is both unattainable and unnecessary, and honors democratic and human rights norms, the U.S. will respond positively.

We urge that the government and the LTTE take advantage of the ceasefire accord, and work with the Norwegian government to negotiate a permanent settlement of the conflict.

Responses:

• From: VP (@ 12.40.51.195) on: Thu Mar 14 05:34:42
  
  http://sg.news.yahoo.com/reuters/asia-94449.html
  Sri Lanka rebels under fire for rights abuses
  
  
  
  COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels came under renewed criticism on Tuesday with the government and a human rights watchdog complaining that abductions and child conscription could undermine a ceasefire accord.
  
  A day after the rebels got a sharp warning from the United States, Sri Lanka's government said it had found the body of a suspected kidnap victim and the human rights group Amnesty International published the names of 18 children it said were conscripted by the rebels.
  
  Abductions and child conscription were also the two counts on which Washington accused the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on Monday of undermining a Norwegian-brokered truce that has brought the country close to its first peace talks in seven years.
  
  "A young Tamil, who was alleged to have been abducted by LTTE cadres, ... was found dead due to gunshot injuries," the Sri Lankan government said in its first statement to criticise the rebels since the truce was signed last month.
  
  The body was found in the Sampur area in eastern Sri Lanka where a massive recruitment drive launched by the rebels has drawn repeated protests about child conscription from human rights groups.
  
  "It is not known at this stage whether the recruitment of children will be considered...to be a breach of the (truce) agreement," Amnesty said in statement.
  
  The 18 children named by Amnesty -- some as young as 12 years old -- have all been abducted since the rights group last protested against child conscription last month, the statement said.
  
  There was no immediate response to either allegation from the rebels, who have denied using child soldiers in their bloody 19-year campaign to carve out an independent state for Tamils in Sri Lanka's north and east.
  
  The rebels also rejected allegations by the U.S. embassy in Colombo that they were trying to undermine a peace bid brought about largely by intense diplomatic pressure on both sides.
  
  On Monday, the embassy warned the rebels not to renege on the truce.
  
  "In the current international context in which terrorism is being condemned in more and more countries, the LTTE should be especially vigilant about observing the terms of the ceasefire accord," an embassy statement said.
  
  But United States said on Tuesday it was encouraged by a promise by the guerrillas, who were listed as a terrorist group by Washington in 1997, to punish any fighters found guilty of violating the ceasefire.
  
  The two sides are expected to begin direct talks by the end of May to resolve a conflict that has claimed more than 64,000 lives.
  
  

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