Trouble In Paradise

The SLMM was set up to oversee and implement the ceasefire after the government of Sri Lanka and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam signed a ceasefire agreement in 2002.

The mission was formed jointly by the five Nordic countries and it takes its mandate from both the Government and the Tigers who are equal parties to the ceasefire.

Is the ceasefire still binding?
What is the current situation as you see it?	It’s very fragile. We saw an enormous escalation of violence in Decemeber and January but then in February the parties were able to come to an agreement to meet in Geneva. But then again, after the Geneva talks they didn’t implement the things they promised in Geneva. Such as the Goverment having no armed groups in their areas but unfortunately the karuna group have still been operating in Goverment controlled areas. And the LTTE then took up violence again against the security forces so on.
What do you think, crucially, needs to happen now?	I think there has to be a saturation point. In January there was such a point. We were very unused to this level of violence huge claymore mine attacks, serious incidents at sea and I think then the parties realized that this was getting out of control. Unfortunately there is now more of an acceptance of the level of violence. It means that we would say that its almost a calm and quiet day even though we have mine attacks and several deaths in one day I’m not saying it’s accepted but there is this passive attitude to the fact we’ve reached this level of violence. It does mean that we might have to see a lot more violence before the parties step back and think okay we’re entering a very dangerous zone here, and this is not the way forward.
Do you think that their is adequate reporting of CFA violations and atrocities committted on both sides?	I think its improving vastly. I think we have reached a certain recognition of the real scenario, there is less hiding of the real facts. People closed their eyes to the real build up which was taking place and now people are speaking much more bluntly. There is also now much more emphasis in the news on atrocities against civilians, which is very important, as it exerts pressure from below.
Are their any crucial faults on either side that the SLMM can identify?
What do you think the Goverment needs to do about the Karuna issue?	They need to actually address it. If their are people carrying arms in Government controlled areas who don’t not belong to the security forces, by Sri Lankan law it is illegal. They have to recognize that the issue cant be avoided. If the government claim that the Karunas are operating in no man’s land- it still needs to be addressed. We cant just ignore the fact, we need to then establish how to control this area.
According to the SLMM, what would be the best solution?	We need to start talking on all levels, that’s the way forward. You cant stop the violence without actually having talks If the political leaders would allow talks and meetings to take place at the district level between the commanders, the leaders on the ground, that would already be a huge amount of reduction in tensions. Right now though it it might take a little bit more time for them to think to have serious talks about peace because there is so much hostility between them. We had the last geneva discussions where we had a momentum but unfortunately the parties lost it. Civilians are dying in great numbers, the politicians need to recognize that people are suffering so badly up in the North and the East, the only way forward is to start some serious talk at the high level that would also allow people that really do care about the ground level to really do business and try and solve things. That’s the way forward.

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