tw news-features

Advocating a confederation and urging an arms embargo against Sri Lanka, The Boston Globe wrote an editorial on Nov 14th. Now the prestigious broadsheet has published responses to the editorial from Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the US, Bernard Goonetilleke and a reader Siva Sivalogan of Dedham.

The Full Text of both responses is as follows:

“Violence drags on in Sri Lanka” contains numerous misperceptions.

It says Tamils “live mostly in the island nation’s north and east.” However, 54 percent of Sri Lanka’s Tamils now live outside the north and east, among Sinhalese, Muslims, and others.

We do not deny that human-rights abuses occur in a climate of conflict, but they are not part of government policy. Where credible evidence was available, legal action was taken, details of which have been communicated to US authorities.

Regarding the necessity of “a United Nations monitoring mission,” dialogue is underway with the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights on how assistance could best meet Sri Lanka’s needs.

A “current offensive into the Jaffna peninsula” resulting in 300,000 displaced civilians describes a situation that never happened.

The editorial proposes “an international arms embargo on Sri Lanka.” It is easy to impose embargoes on legitimate governments. How can embargoes be imposed on the Tamil Tigers, who purchase heavy artillery and other warlike material unhindered?

If, by “a meaningful devolution of power to the Tamil areas,” you mean the north and east, it is noteworthy that Sinhalese and Muslims together outnumber Tamils in the east.

The highway to the north is operational except at the Muhamalai entry point to the peninsula, which the Tigers tried to breach in August 2006.

“Constitutional changes” for devolution of power are being negotiated, the outcome of which cannot be determined by the international community, but by the people of Sri Lanka following a democratic process.

Bernard Goonetilleke
Sri Lankan ambassador
Washington

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Tamils have legitimate grievances
November 19, 2007

IN THE name of fighting global terrorism, the US policy in Sri Lanka unfairly supports the Sinhalese majority against the minority Tamils. Europeans, meanwhile, are debating removal of the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Most of the Tamils consider the Tamil Tigers as their legitimate representatives.

Sinhala politicians continue to deny rights to the Tamils. The Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, a Sinhala coalition partner of the government, issued an ultimatum for its support: abolition of the 2002 cease-fire agreement, dissolution of the all-party group that was developing a plan for power sharing, and an end to negotiations with the Tamil Tigers.

The government’s “war for peace” strategy, while displacing half a million Tamils, is altering the demographics of the Tamil areas to ensure that Tamils will never again be able to make a demand for their rights. The Sinhala Army commander stated to Britain’s Channel 4 that kidnappings and killings of Tamils would continue until terrorism is defeated.

The international community agrees that Tamils have legitimate grievances. The former US ambassador to Sri Lanka, Jeffrey Lunstead, acknowledged mistakes in not engaging the Tamil Tigers during his term. Senator Hillary Clinton has argued for nuance in how one regards the Tamil Tigers’ tactics in fighting for the Tamils’ freedom.

We need a coherent US policy that recognizes the Tamil Tigers as representatives of the Tamils, and supports an arms embargo along with UN intervention to allow the Tamils their right to self-determination and to decide their future.

Siva Sivalogan
Dedham