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Template:Infobox terrorist organization The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), commonly known as the Tamil Tigers, is a militant organization that has been waging a violent secessionist campaign against the Sri Lankan government since the 1970s in order to create a separate Tamil state in the north and east of Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon). The LTTE is currently proscribed as a terrorist organisation by 32 countries (see list). It is headed by its founder, Velupillai Prabhakaran.

History

Sri Lankan civil war (1983–2009)
Origins
Combatants
 Sri Lanka
LTTE
Other militants (list)
 India
Sri Lanka Paramilitary groups
Phases
Major battles
Major events
Leaders
Sri Lanka
Military
Army
Navy
Air Force
Civilian
LTTE
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India
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Aftermath
Related topics
See also: Sri Lankan civil war

Rise to dominance

The LTTE was founded in 1975 by Velupillai Prabhakaran, and attracted many supporters amongst disenchanted Tamil youth, who were dissatisfied with policies followed by successive governments towards solving various concerns of the nation's Tamil community. Initially it operated in cooperation with other Tamil militant groups and in April 1984, the LTTE formally joined a common militant front, the Eelam National Liberation Front (ENLF), a union between itself, the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO), the Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS), the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) and the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF).

In 1986, the LTTE broke from the ENLF and launched an armed attack on members and training camps of TELO, which at the time was the largest Tamil militant group in Sri Lanka. Over the next few months, the virtually the entire TELO leadership and several hundred volunteers were hunted down, and the group ceased to be a potent force. A few months later, the LTTE attacked training camps of the EPRLF, forcing it to withdraw entirely from the Jaffna peninsula.

The reasons for the LTTE's internecine attacks on other Tamil groups are much debated. All of the Tamil militant groups, including the LTTE, had received varying degrees of support from India. However, while other groups such as the TELO wholeheartedly embraced Indian support, the LTTE remained wary of India, particularly after Rajiv Gandhi came to power. The LTTE feared that India was seeking primarily to advance its own interests, which differed from the Sri Lankan Tamils interests, and could require the Tamils to accept an unfavorable federal settlement. Some commentators have suggested that the LTTE were also dissatisfied that most of the funding from expatriates went to the TELO, rather than to them. It has also been suggested that they believed the struggle would only be effective if the other groups, who were much more willing to compromise on a settlement to the conflict, were not operational. The effect of the attacks was that the LTTE consolidated the position as the main military group fighting for the cause of Tamil Eelam, with no credible rivals.

In 1987 the LTTE established the notorious Black Tigers, an elite unit of the LTTE responsible for conducting suicide attacks against political, economic and military targets, and launched its first suicide attack against a Sri Lanka Army camp, killing 40 soldiers.

The IPKF period

Main article: Indian Peace Keeping Force

In 1987, when the Sri Lanka Army launched an assault to recapture Jaffna, the Indian press depicted the attack as being brutal and leading to disproportionately large civilian casualties. Faced with growing anger amongst its own Tamils, and a flood of refugees, India intervened directly in the conflict for the first time by initially airdropping food parcels into Jaffna. After subsequent negotiations, India and Sri Lanka entered into an agreement whereby Sri Lanka agreed to a federal structure, which would grant autonomy to the Tamils, and the Tamil militant groups would all lay down their arms. India was to send a peacekeeping force, the IPKF, to Sri Lanka to enforce the disarmament.

Although most Tamil militant groups accepted this agreement, the LTTE only did so very grudgingly and very soon rejected it on the grounds that the reforms were only illusory and refused to hand over their weapons to the IPKF. The result was that the LTTE now found itself engaged in military conflict with the Indian Army. The Indian Army then launched number of assaults on the LTTE, including a month-long campaign to win control of the Jaffna peninsula from the LTTE. The ruthlessness of this campaign, and the Indian army's subsequent anti-LTTE operations made it extremely unpopular amongst many Tamils in Sri Lanka.

The post-IPKF LTTE

The IPKF's intervention was also unpopular amongst the Sinhalese majority, and after been bogged down in the fighting for over 2 years and experiencing heavy loses, the last IPKF members left the country in 1990 upon request of the Sri Lankan government. Fighting continued throughout the 1990s, and was marked by two key assassinations carried out by the LTTE, that of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, and Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1993, using suicide bombers in both occasions. The fighting was briefly halted in 1994 following the election of Chandrika Kumaratunga as President of Sri Lanka and the onset of peace talks, but fighting resumed following the sinking two Sri Lanka Navy boats in April 1995 by the LTTE. In a series of military operations that followed in 1995 and 1996, the Sri Lanka Army re-captured the Jaffna peninsula and the town of Kilinochchi from the LTTE, leaving the LTTE's resources crippled and their manpower depleted. The LTTE then proposed peace talks in 1996, which the government rejected, and starting from 1997, the LTTE suffered a number of military defeats, and lost control of large portions of the Vanni, the town of Kilinochchi, and many smaller towns. However, from 1998 onward the LTTE reversed these losses, culminating in the capture of the strategically important Elephant Pass base complex in April 2000, after prolonged fighting against the Sri Lanka Army.

The 2001 ceasefire

A LTTE bicycle infantry platoon north of Killinochi in 2004

In 2001, following the September 11th attacks and the subsequent War on Terrorism, the LTTE unexpectedly dropped its demand for a separate state, which had never been accepted by the government or the island's Sinhalese majority. Instead, they stated that a form of regional autonomy would meet their demands. The Sri Lankan government invited Norway to mediate in the dispute, which resulted in a precarious ceasefire agreement.

Following the landslide election victory defeat of Kumaratunga and the coming to power of Ranil Wickramasinghe in December 2001, the two sides declared unilateral ceasefire's and signed a ceasefire agreement in March 2002. As part of the agreement, Norway and the other Nordic countries agreed to jointly monitor the ceasefire through the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission. While the agreement largely held, the SLMM reported that Tigers carried out more than 3,100 violations compared to about 140 by the government forces.

Six rounds of peace talks were held regarding a solution to the conflict were held, but were suspended after the LTTE pulled out of the talks in 2003. They were further pushed back due to the political uncertainty created after President Kumaratunga suspended the government of the then Prime Minister Wickremasinghe in 2004, accusing him of being too soft on the LTTE. Kumaratunga herself then took a more conciliatory line towards the LTTE. Yet throughout all this, no significant military engagements took place.

In the 2005 Presidential Elections race, outgoing President Kumaratunga's successor Mahinda Rajapaksa campaigned on a platform of being tougher on the LTTE while former prime minister Wickramasinghe vowed to restart the stalled peace talk. The LTTE ordered a boycott of the elections amongst Tamil voters in the East and North of Sri Lanka, and forcibly prevented votes from going to polling booths. Mahinda Rajapakse eventually won the election by a narrow majority, helped by the LTTE boycott, as most Tamils were expected to vote for Wickramasinghe. The LTTE action was condemned by the United States, who cited that "a significant portion of Sri Lanka's people were unable to express their views", and by opponents of Rajapakse, who claim that the boycott played an important role in his victory.

Resumption of hostilities

Organization and activities

Military

In the LTTE, recruits are instructed to be prepared to die for the cause, and are issued with a cyanide capsule to be swallowed in the case of capture. The LTTE also has a special squad of suicide bombers, called the Black Tigers, which it deploys for critical missions.

The LTTE is the only rebel group to have a naval wing, the Sea Tigers and an air wing, the Air Tigers.

Governmental

Even though the LTTE was formed as a military group, it also carries out a number of civilian functions. The LTTE controls sections in the north of the island, especially the regions lying around the cities of Killinochchi and Mulathivu. However, it still uses the Sri Lanka rupee and many civil servants are paid by the Sri Lankan government, even in areas controlled by the LTTE. Most of the structures supporting these functions developed during the period immediately after the IPKF's withdrawal, when the LTTE controlled Jaffna without significant opposition. During this period, it transformed itself from a purely military body to a quasi-government, complete with administrative organs. Among these are:

  • A broadcasting authority called the Voice of Tigers
  • Judicial Service including a court service and a public prosecution system.
  • Banking system
  • Customs agency

Although it no longer controls Jaffna, these structures continue to form the basis on which it runs the areas it does control. The LTTE's administrative agencies are integrated into the organisation's overall chain of command. The LTTE's quasi-government is run on socialist principles. For example, all litigants before a civil court are required to pay a fine for failing to settle their dispute amicably. In recent years, the LTTE has sought wider recognition for its administrative organs. After the Boxing Day tsunami, it has sought to ensure that aid to the areas under its control is routed through its own administrative agencies. It entered into an agreement, called the P-TOMS, with the government of Sri Lankan president Chandrika Kumaratunga that recognised this principle to some extent. The agreement was bitterly opposed by hardliners in the Sri Lankan government and never saw implementation.

Political

The LTTE also has a political wing, but despite the ceasefire it has not tried to formally create a political party. Instead, in the 2004 parliamentary elections, it openly supported the Tamil National Alliance, which won over 90% of votes in the electoral district of Jaffna, in the Northern Province, although just 47% the total population cast their votes.

The LTTE's commitment to multi-party democracy has also been questioned. In an interview in 1986, Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader of the LTTE, said that a future state of Tamil Eelam would be a one-party state rather than a multi-party democracy, because that would help it develop faster. He has not repeated this proposal, and the LTTE's main ideologue, Anton Balasingham, publicly repudiated this position in 1992, stating that it was irrelevant after the collapse of the Soviet Union. However, the LTTE's critics state that it indicates their way of thinking, and point out that it has not organized, and shows no signs of organizing, local elections in the areas it controls. The LTTE's supporters say that conditions make elections impossible, but that they will be held once a fully independent state is created.

Dissension

Mahattaya, a one time the deputy leader of the LTTE, was accused of treason by the LTTE and killed in 1994. He is said to have collaborated with the Indian Research and Analysis Wing to remove Prabhakaran from the LTTE leadership.

In the biggest show of dissent from within the organization, a senior LTTE commander named Colonel Karuna (nom de guerre of Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan) broke away from the LTTE in March 2004 and formed the TamilEela Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal amid allegations that the northern commanders were overlooking the needs of the eastern Tamils. The LTTE leadership accused him of mishandling of funds and questioned him about his recent personal behavior. He tried to take control of the eastern province from the LTTE, which caused clashes between the LTTE and TEMVP. The LTTE has suggested that TEMVP is backed by the government, and the Nordic SLMM monitors have corroborated this.

See also: Colonel Karuna and Mahattaya

Status of women

The LTTE advocates equality for women, and has a large number of female recruits. The Women's Wing of the LTTE is known as Suthanthirap Paravaikal (or "Freedom Birds"). The first woman combatant to die was 2nd Lt. Malathi, on October 10, 1987, in an encounter with the IPKF at Kopai in Jaffna peninsula. Women have also been part of the 'Black Tiger' squads. The assassination of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, the attempt on President Chandrika Kumaranatunga and the 2006 attempt on the Sri Lanka Army commander are notable instances.

Allegations of links to other terrorist organizations

International experts have long suspected the existence of connections between the LTTE and other internationally designated terrorist organizations including al-Qaeda and the Taliban. These connections came under more detailed scrutiny following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States and the resulting War on Terrorism. Some of the incidents cited to prove these suspicions include:

  • The similarities between previous LTTE attacks against Sri Lanka Navy ships and the al-Qaeda attack on the USS Cole which killed 17 US Navy sailors.
  • Evidence that the LTTE provided forged passports to Ramzi Yousef, the man who carried out the first attack against the World Trade Center in New York in 1993.
  • The smuggling of weapons by the LTTE from Islamics in Pakistan to their counterparts in the Philippines.
  • Allegations that the LTTE stole Norwegian passports and sold them to the al-Qaeda organization to earn money to fund their arms purchases.
  • Increasing intelligence reports that the LTTE was smuggling arms to various terrorist organizations using their covert smuggling networks, and findings by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies that they were building commercial links with al-Qaeda and other militants in Afghanistan.

Other security experts including Glen Jenvey, a specialist on international terrorism, have also claimed that al-Qaeda has copied most of its terror tactics from the LTTE. He highlighted the LTTE as the mastermind that sets the pattern for organizations like al-Qaeda to pursue. Some of the comparisons he used to draw his conclusions are:

  • The LTTE invented the modern suicide bomber and deployed it against political, military, and civilian targets. Islamic groups copied the LTTE by carrying out similar suicide attacks.
  • The LTTE continuously attacks shipping off the coast of Sri Lanka by blowing ships up or by acts of piracy. Attacks on the USS Cole off Yemen and piracy off the coast of Somalia, a stronghold for al-Qaeda followers, followed and possibly copied the LTTE tactics.
  • The LTTE attack on the World Trade Centre in Sri Lanka was followed by attacks by al-Qaeda on the World Trade Center in New York.
  • The LTTE's use of a women's section has being copied by al-Qaeda and Chechen terrorists, for example the "Black Widows" who played a role in the Moscow theater hostage crisis and have carried out suicide bombings.
  • Attacks on civilians in buses and trains in Sri Lanka are similar to the al-Qaeda attacks on public civilian transport during the July 2005 bombings in London.

Human rights and terrorism issues

See also: List of terrorist attacks attributed to the LTTE and Notable attacks attributed to the LTTE

The LTTE is labeled as a terrorist organization as part of a broader allegation that it does not have respect for human rights, and does not adhere to the standards of conduct expected of a resistance movement or what might be called "freedom fighters".

The accusation of terrorism is based in part on claims that the LTTE kills innocent civilians, recruits child soldiers, has been responsible for assassination of political figures and non-military officials, and uses suicide bombers.

Attacks on civilians

Main article: List of terrorist attacks attributed to the LTTE

The LTTE has attacked non-military targets including commuter trains and buses, farming villages, temples and mosques resulting in large numbers of civilian deaths.

Some of the major attacks resulting in dozens of civilian deaths include the Kebithigollewa massacre, the Gonagala massacre (54 dead), the Anuradhapura massacre (146 dead), the Dehiwala train bombing (56 dead), the Palliyagodella massacre (166 dead) and the bombing of Sri Lanka's Central Bank (102 dead). The LTTE claims that its attacks on purely civilian targets are collateral damage.

Attempted attacks on civilians

Heavy vehicles carrying large quantities of high explosives were caught at various check points throughout the nation during various times. The LTTE uses specially engineered secret compartments in lorries, tractors, vans and buses to hide the explosives. The following are the most recent attempted attacks on civilian targets:

  • A lorry coming from Kilinochchi area was apprehended with a deadly cargo of over 1000kg of C4 high explosives. The apprehension took place at Nikevaritiya. The police claims that it is the single largest detection of explosives in history. The lorry was heading towards urban areas of Colombo. Compared to the 50kg bomb explosion at Central Bank (killed at least 91 and injured over 1,500 civilians), the explosive lorry was over 20 times more devastating.
  • Dozens of Claymore mines were discovered various points throughout the Island. Although the mines were set to target specific personnel, they were planted near heavily crowded areas of Colombo, such as busy roads, junctions, markets, railway roads, etc. Most mines were discovered due to the vigilance of locals, and were neutralized by Sri Lankan Army before they take their death toll.
  • Some of those bombs were synchronized, i.e. planted at separate locations throughout the city but set to explode simultaneously. The government lay blame on LTTE saying only LTTE has the technology to make claymore mines in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, government accuses that only a well-trained military organization would carry out such a synchronized attack.

Despite of the Tamil nationalistic ideology of LTTE, those lethal bombs would have killed thousands of innocent civilians, both Tamil and Sinhalese. Almost one third of population in Colombo are Tamils.

Assassinations

Main article: Assassinations attributed to the LTTE

The LTTE has long been accused of carrying assassinations of political rivals and opponents. These include:

Indian courts have issued international warrants to arrest both Velupillai Prabhakaran and its intelligence chief Pottu Amman in connection with the killing of Rajiv Gandhi. The LTTE at first denied any involvement, but later issued a statement in June 2006 acknowledging it and calling the event a "monumental tragedy." A presidential commission later concluded that the LTTE was not responsible for the death of Athulathmudali.

The LTTE has also been accused of killing moderate Tamils and other Tamils with whom it disagrees, such as:

The LTTE has vehemently denied involvement in several of these incidents. Others argue these are tit-for-tat killings conducted by partisans of both sides of the conflict. The LTTE argues the Sri Lankan government and government-aided paramilitaries have also targeted high-profile supporters of the LTTE.

LTTE supporters justify some of the targeted assassinations by arguing that the people attacked were combatants or persons closely associated with Sri Lankan military intelligence. Specifically in relation to the TELO, the LTTE has said that it had to perform preemptive self-defence because the TELO was in effect functioning as a proxy for India. They also draw comparisons between the casualties caused by the LTTE's actions and the actions of European resistance forces against Nazi occupation during the Second World War. However, the LTTE's alleged victims have included unarmed Tamil politicians and civilian moderates who sought a peaceful solution to the Sri Lankan crisis.

Child soldiers

Main article: Military use of children in Sri Lanka

The LTTE's use of children as front-line troops was proved when 25 front-line troops between the ages of 13 and 17 surrendered en masse to the Sri Lankan Forces. Amid international pressure, LTTE announced in July 2003 that it would stop conscripting child soldiers, but both UNICEF and Human Rights Watch have accused it of reneging on its promises, and of conscripting Tamil children orphaned by the tsunami. Civilians have also complained that the LTTE is continuing to abduct children, including some in their early teens, for use as soldiers. Moreover UNICEF states that the LTTE has recruited 315 child soldiers between April and December 2006. According to UNICEF, the total number of child soldiers recruited by the LTTE since 2001 stands at 5,794.

The LTTE, however, strongly denies any responsibility for recruitment of child soldiers. It argues that instances of child recruitment occurred mostly in the east, under the purview of former LTTE regional commander Colonel Karuna. After leaving the LTTE and forming the TMVP, it is alleged Karuna continues to forcibly kidnap and induct child soldiers. Its official position is that earlier, some of its cadres erroneously recruited volunteers in their late teens. It says that its official policy is now that it will not accept child soldiers. It also says that some underage youth lie about their age and are therefore allowed to join, but are sent back home to their parents as soon as they are discovered to be underage.

Suicide bombing

The LTTE has frequently used suicide bombers as a tactic. They pioneered the use of concealed suicide bomb vests, which are now used by many other organisations worldwide. The tactic of deploying suicide bombers was used to assassinate Rajiv Gandhi, who was killed in 1991 using a prototype suicide vest, and Ranasinghe Premadasa, assassinated in 1993.

LTTE has carried out more suicide bombings than any other organization on Earth. According to Jane's Information Group, between 1980 and 2000 LTTE had carried out a total of 168 suicide attacks on civilians and military targets. The number of suicide attacks easily exceeded the combined total of Hezbollah and Hamas suicide attacks conducted out during the same period.

Ethnic cleansing

Main articles: Expulsion of Muslims from Jaffna and List of terrorist attacks attributed to the LTTE See also: Gonagala massacre

The LTTE has been blamed for forcibly removing (or "ethnically cleansing") Sinhalese and Muslim inhabitants from areas under its control, including the use of violence against those who refuse to leave. Most notably, the LTTE forcibly expelled the entire Muslim population of Jaffna with two hours notice in 1990. The LTTE are also accused of organising massacres of Sinhala villagers who settled in the Northeast under the dry lands policy.

The LTTE has apologized for the expulsion of Muslims and has blamed this event on the misconduct of one of its regional commanders. However these expulsions had taken place in Jaffna where the supreme leadership of the LTTE was based. It is therefore unlikely that these expulsions were planned at a local level. Furthermore no punitive action was taken against those who expelled the Muslims from Jaffna. The LTTE has taken the added step of encouraging Muslim civilians to return their homes and livelihoods and providing compensation. However very few Muslims have accepted this offer.

The LTTE feels the expulsion of Sinhalese civilian from the North East of Sri Lanka is a necessary step to safeguard the rights of the Tamil minority. The LTTE alleges that most of the North East lands were originally owned by Tamils, who were forcibly evicted to make way for government-aided Sinhala colonization schemes. These schemes, they argue were created with the sole intent of making Tamil civilians a minority in their traditional homelands and hence a means to further deprive them of their rights under the present district-based unitary political system. However, Muslims and Sinhalese have formed over half of the population of the East province throughout recent history. Furthermore, the existence of archaeological evidence shows that the Sinhalese have inhabited both the Eastern Province and the Northern Province for over two thousand years. In fact, most of the place names in the north and east of Sri Lanka are of Sinhalese origin. Scholars acknowledge the existence of a Tamil kingdom in Jaffna for about 300 years from around 1200-1500 CE, but there is no evidence of a Tamil kingdom in the Eastern province. Therefore, the basis for the LTTE's claim of the Eastern province as a traditional homeland of the Tamils remains contentious.

Execution of POWs

See also: Massacre of police officers in Eastern Sri Lanka in June 1990

The LTTE have executed prisoners of war in spite of a declaration by the LTTE in 1988 that it would abide by the Geneva Conventions. Notably, the LTTE massacred most of the 400 to 600 police officers captured after their surrender to the LTTE in 1990. The LTTE also executed 200 Sri Lankan soldiers captured during an attack on the Pooneryn army camp, and hundreds of soldiers who had surrendered during the attack on the Mullaitivu army camp.

Extortion

There are also charges that the LTTE coerces Tamil expatriates to give it money, by threatening the safety of their relatives or property in areas of Sri Lanka under its control. This involves pressuring them to directly give it money, or to indirectly fund its activities by patronizing businesses connected with it (La 2004). Although intelligence services have raised concerns about such activities, which are particularly controversial in Canada, few formal complaints have been made. During raids by the RCMP, the World Tamil Movement (an LTTE front organisation) was found coordinating a number of illegal activities in order to control the Tamil diaspora in Canada. A report by Human Rights Watch outlines the intimidation and extortion Tamil expatriates experience from the LTTE.

However, several pro-LTTE Tamil associations, from various countries mentioned in the report, have called into question the veracity and accuracy of the HRW report.

Proscription as a terrorist group

At least 32 countries have listed the LTTE as a terrorist organisation. As of May 2007, these include:

The UN has also passed Resolution 1373, asking member countries to identify and limit activities of any organisation that carries out terrorist activities. The UN has not published its own list of terrorist groups, leaving their identification to the discretion of member countries. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has also suggested that the LTTE should face travel curbs and other penalties if they keep using children as soldiers. As well as travel bans, his report to the Security Council also recommended other sanctions such as arms embargoes and financial restrictions against the LTTE. Australia and other countries have listed the LTTE as a terrorist group in accordance with Resolution 1373. Canada does not grant residency to LTTE members on the grounds that they have participated in crimes against humanity.

The first country to ban the LTTE was its early ally, India. The Indian change of policy came gradually, starting with the IPKF-LTTE conflict, and culminating with the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. Sri Lanka itself lifted the ban on the LTTE before signing the ceasefire agreement in 2002. This was a prerequisite set by the LTTE for signing of the agreement.

Recent events

See also: Sri Lankan Civil War § Resumption of hostilities

The LTTE executed 6 Sinhalese farmers on April 23, 2006. The LTTE executed a further 13 labourers on May 29, 2006.

Kebothigollewa massacre
See also: Kebithigollewa massacre

A claymore antipersonnel mine attack by the LTTE on 15 June 2006 on a bus carrying 140 civilians killed 68 (including 15 children), and injured 60. The Sri Lankan Government, US state department and the SLMM blamed the LTTE for this attack. However the LTTE denied carrying out this attack.

Attack on the Pakistani High Commissioner

On August 14, 2006, a convoy carrying the Pakistani High Commissioner Bashir Wali Mohamed, was attacked by a Claymore type directional mine concealed within a trishaw, killing seven and injuring seventeen. The explosion took place near the official residence of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse. The Sri Lankan government accused the LTTE of responsibility.

Criminal activities

One factor that has benefited the LTTE greatly has been its sophisticated international support network. While some of the funding obtained by the LTTE is from legitimate fund raising and extortion among the Tamil diaspora, a significant portion is obtained through criminal activities, involving sea piracy, human smuggling, drug trafficking and gunrunning.

Sea piracy

The LTTE are reported to hijack ships and boats of all sizes, and it is common practice for them to kidnap and kill the crew members on board the hijacked vessels.

The LTTE has been accused of hijacking several vessels in waters outside Sri Lanka including the Irish Mona (in August 1995), Princess Wave (in August 1996), Athena (in May 1997), Misen (in July 1997), Morong Bong (in July 1997), MV Cordiality (in Sept 1997) and Princess Kash (in August 1998). When the LTTE captured the MV Cordiality near the port of Trincomalee, they killed all five Chinese crew members on board. The MV Sik Yang, a 2,818-ton Malaysian-flag cargo ship which sailed from Tuticorin, India on May 25, 1999 was reported missing in waters near Sri Lanka. The ship with a cargo of bagged salt was due at the Malaysian port of Malacca on May 31. The fate of the ship's crew of 15 is unknown. It is suspected that the vessel was hijacked by the LTTE and is now been used as a phantom vessel. A report published on June 30, 1999 confirmed that the vessel had been hijacked by the LTTE.

MV Farah III incident

In a notable incident since the signing of the Ceasefire Agreement in 2001, the crew of a Jordanian ship, MV Farah III that ran aground near rebel-controlled territory off the island's coast, accused the Tamil Tigers of forcing them to abandon the vessel which was carrying 14,000 tonnes of Indian rice and risking their lives. The crew said that LTTE fired four times to force them out of the vessel after failing to explode it in choppy seas three days ago. The skipper of the vessel said;

"First they tried to set up a bomb and explode the anchor cable and when it failed they ordered us to weigh anchor"

He also said that the Tigers dismantled and removed all radio communication equipment and radar from the vessel. On May 1, 2007 Sayed Sulaiman, the chairman of the ship's owners, Salam International Trading Company gave an interview to the BBC Tamil service, saying,

"We hear from the parties who are concerned with the ship, the insurance company etc., that ... everything that could be taken – like the rice, lights, generators – has been taken from the ship. The ship is now bare."

Pilferage of tsunami donations

In May 2007, two Tamils with connections to the LTTE were arrested in Australia for raising thousands of dollars in Australia under the pretense of being for charities and aid for those affected by the 2004 Asian Tsunami, which killed 35,000 people in Sri Lanka, but instead using the money to fund the LTTE. Australian Federal Police conducted raids across Melbourne and Sydney and charged the two men with "being members of a terrorist group, financing terrorism and providing material support for terrorism". They are said to have provided significant funds as well as electronic and marine equipment to the Tamil Tigers since July 2002. Commenting on the possibility of the LTTE engaging in other similar incidents, Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe said "We are concerned that that sort of thing is taking place in Australia, that Australian citizens are being duped into making contributions to what they believe to be honest fundraising activities in terms of relief for people in distress."

Human smuggling

Most of the smuggling of Tamil people to Western countries is done under the permission of the LTTE. The LTTE benefits greatly from smuggling of Tamil people for example, to Canada. It usually costs between $10,000 and $40,000 for a Sri Lankan Tamil to be smuggled to Canada illegally, with the usual cost running around $20-25,000 dollars. Also, the people who are leaving Sri Lanka from Tamil Tigers controlled are ordered to pay a few hundred dollars for an "exit visa" by the LTTE. In addition to this, people with special skills or a greater wealth than ordinary Tamils may have to pay thousands of dollars to be entitled to leave.

Allegations of forced prostitution

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According to research done by the Mackenzie Institute, an independent Canadian based think tank to provide research and commentary about organized violence and political instability, said another industry the LTTE is involved in is the forced prostitution of Tamil women who are being smuggled to other countries. In the mid 1990s some Sri Lankan women were abused or raped while being smuggled towards Canada by the LTTE, and some were deliberately stranded in Thailand and forced into prostitution there.

Passport forgery

A passport forgery scheme uncovered in Canada in 1990 which was the first one to result in a Canadian conviction has also been linked to the LTTE. The perpetrators were Canadian Tamils who produced around 1,000 doctored travel documents before being caught. Another forger was uncovered in 1991, and was proven to have dealt with the LTTE after the phone number of Ontario’s World Tamil Movement was found to be listed under ‘LTTE’ in his date book.

Drug trafficking

A number of international organizations and intelligence agencies have accused the LTTE of involvement in drug trafficking, and its history of drug smuggling that runs back to 1970s when Tamil smugglers (a group from which the leader of the LTTE and some of his key lieutenants originally emerged) started carrying heroin from India to Sri Lanka. When the traditional smuggling routes used by many Afghan/Pakistani opium and heroin producers became severely disrupted due to the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Fundamentalist revolution in Iran, the Sri Lankan Tamils soon provided a new way of getting their drugs to markets elsewhere in the world.

In addition to this, Tamils also started selling drugs in the Western Europe by 1984. Many Tamil heroin smuggling activities have been reported in many countries in the Europe including Italy, Switzerland, Poland, and France. One LTTE operative who was jailed in France for two years for heroin smuggling has later become the chief of their international operations.

At the end of 1990s when the volume of heroin from Southeast Asia was increasing, the Tamil Tigers again took advantage of this source too. The LTTE set up a naval base for their use on the Island of Twante, off Burma, the world's leading source for heroin from that part of the world. The LTTE have reportedly used their very own merchant ships from the shipping line that they own, to smuggle heroin into Europe. The American government is aware of LTTE's heroin transactions inside and around southern Thailand and Burma, but in the absence of any direct threat to the US from the Tigers, the resources of their Drug Enforcement Agency are focused elsewhere.

The LTTE operates within two separate levels in their activities in the North America and Europe. The Tiger operatives are engaged in propaganda and lobbying aspects, as well as coordinating a myriad of fronts and charities to raise cash for the war. Another group of operatives run criminal enterprises including refugee smuggling, narcotics trafficking, sophisticated frauds, and extortion rings to deliver funds to feed the LTTE.

Arms smuggling

Another one of LTTE's most secretive International operations is the smuggling of weapons, explosives, and "dual use" technologies to keep up with the military operations. The part of the LTTE responsible for these activities is given the nickname "KP Branch", taking the initials of its highest level operative, Kumaran Padmanathan. The workers for the KP Branch are outsiders from the fighting wing of the LTTE, since the identities of the those fighters are recorded and available to law enforcement and counter-intelligence agencies by India's RAW, who had helped train many Tiger cadres in the early 1980s. The KP Branch operates extremely secretively by having the minimum connection possible with the LTTE's other sections for further security. It finally hands over the arms shipments to a highly trusted team of the sea Tigers to deliver them to the LTTE dominated areas.

In order to carryout the activities of International arms trafficking, the LTTE operates it own fleet of ocean-going vessels. These vessels only operate a certain period of time for the LTTE and in the remaining time they transport legitimate goods and raise hard cash for the purchase of weapons. The LTTE initially operated a shipping base in Myanmar, but they were forced to leave due to diplomatic pressure. To overcome the loss of this, a new base has been set up on Phuket Island, in Thailand.

However, the most expertly carried out operation of the KP Branch was the theft of 32,400 rounds of 81mm mortar ammunition purchased from Tanzania for the Sri Lanka Army. Being aware of the purchase of 35,000 mortar bombs, the LTTE made a bid to the manufacturer through a numbered company and arranged a vessel of their own to pick up the load. Once the bombs were loaded into the ship, the LTTE changed the name and registration of their ship. The vessel was taken to Tiger-held territory in Sri Lanka's north instead of transporting it to its intended destination.

The Western countries are the main territory for fund raising activities of the LTTE. The money raised from donations and criminal enterprises are transferred into bank accounts of the Tigers and from there to the accounts of a weapons broker, or, the money is taken by KP operatives themselves. LTTE's need for resources is mostly fulfilled by the Tamils who reside outside Sri Lanka. In 1995, when the LTTE lost Jaffna, their international operatives were ordered to increase, by a massive 50%, the amount raised from Tamils outside of the island.

Other crimes

LTTE has also been accused of committing credit card fraud in a number of countries including India and the United Kingdom. In April 2007, the Sri Lankan High Commission in London, accused the LTTE of being behind a credit card scam. However a police spokesman said there was no definitie link to the LTTE or Sri Lankan gangs. Similar crimes including organized crime, social security fraud, counterfeit currency trading, and satellite piracy.

See also

References

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Further reading

  • Balasingham, Adele. (2003) The Will to Freedom - An Inside View of Tamil Resistance, Fairmax Publishing Ltd, 2nd ed. ISBN 1-903679-03-6
  • Balasingham, Anton. (2004) War and Peace - Armed Struggle and Peace Efforts of Liberation Tigers, Fairmax Publishing Ltd, ISBN 1-903679-05-2
  • de Votta, Neil. (2004) Blowback: Linguistic Nationalism, Institutional Decay, and Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka. Stanford University Press, ISBN 0-8047-4924-8
  • Gamage, Siri and I.B. Watson (Editors). (1999) Conflict and Community in Contemporary Sri Lanka - 'Pearl of the East' or 'Island of Tears'?, Sage Publications Ltd, ISBN 0-7619-9393-2
  • Hansard Australia (2006), Senate Transcript for 16 June 2006
  • Hellmann-Rajanayagam, D. (1994) "The Groups and the rise of Militant Secessions". in Manogaram, C. and Pfaffenberger, B. (editors). The Sri Lankan Tamils. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-8133-8845-7
  • Human Rights Watch (2003) Child Soldier Use 2003: A Briefing for the 4th UN Security Council Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict
  • La, J.. 2004. "Forced remittances in Canada's Tamil enclaves". Peace Review 16:3. September 2004. pp. 379-385.
  • Narayan Swamy, M. R. (2002) Tigers of Lanka: from Boys to Guerrillas, Konark Publishers; 3rd ed. ISBN 81-220-0631-0
  • Pratap, Anita. (2001) Island of Blood: Frontline Reports From Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Other South Asian Flashpoints. Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-200366-2
  • Sri Kantha, Sachi.(2005) Pirabhakaran Phenomenon, Lively COMET Imprint, ISBN 1-57087-671-1
  • Wilson, Jeyaratnam (1999) Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalism: Its Origins and Development in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, University of British Columbia Press, ISBN 0-7748-0760-1

LTTE Atrocities

External links

Official LTTE websites and LTTE related websites

Sri Lanka Government websites

Norwegian Mediators

Terrorism

Human Rights

News websites

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