European Parliament resolution on the situation in Sri Lanka
Date: 2006-05-18
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Sri Lanka, establishment of peace, human rights, political situation, political violence, settlement of disputes

C 297 E/384

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

7.12.2006

Thursday, 18 May 2006

15. Calls on the Council and Commission to offer further technical, logistical and financial assistance to
Nepal, including practical planning for a ceasefire monitoring mission in cooperation with other donors,
should this be requested by Nepal;

16. Calls on the Council to consider appointing a Special Representative for Nepal; his or her role would
be to encourage greater political engagement in Nepal on the part of the EU and to sharpen its political
analysis and level of understanding during the delicate transition;

17. Calls again for a follow-up to the 2002 London International Conference, to be organised by the
Contact Group of key partners, which should set out the principles and values needed to underpin a peace
process in Nepal; welcomes the plan of Nepali civil society activists to start the process by organising their
own conference in Kathmandu this coming year;

18. Calls on the Nepalese government to protect Tibetan refugees in transit to India, and end the suspen-
sion of exit permits without delay;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the governments
19.
of the Member States, the Commission, the interim government of Nepal, King Gyanendra, the governments
of India and the other Member States of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, the UN
Secretary-General, and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

P6_TA(2006)0227

Sri Lanka

European Parliament resolution on the situation in Sri Lanka

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the armed conflict which has torn Sri Lanka since 1983, taking over 60 000 lives and

causing the displacement of more than 800 000 people,

— having regard to its previous resolutions of 18 May 2000 (1), 14 March 2002 (2) and 20 November

2003 (3) on Sri Lanka, and of 13 January 2005 (4) on EU aid after the tsunami disaster,

— having regard to the Oslo Declaration of December 2002, in which the Sri Lankan Government and the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) agreed to try to find a federal solution within a united Sri Lanka,

— having regard to the Tokyo Declaration on Reconstruction and Development of Sri Lanka of 10 June
2003, which linked donor support to progress in the peace process, insisting on compliance with the
ceasefire agreement between the Government of Sri Lanka and LTTE, which entered into force on
23 February 2002, participation of the Muslim minority in the talks, promotion and protection of
human rights, gender equality and progress towards a final political settlement,

(1) OJ C 59, 23.2.2001, p. 278.
(2) OJ C 47 E, 27.2.2003, p. 613.
(3) OJ C 87 E, 7.4.2004, p. 527.
(4) OJ C 247 E, 6.10.2005, p. 147.

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— having regard to the support given by the EU and the wider international community in response to the

devastating tsunami of 26 December 2004,

Thursday, 18 May 2006

— having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas the conflict in Sri Lanka has killed over 60 000 people, displaced over 800 000 and held back
the island's growth and economic development, resulting in a miserable situation for so many people
across Sri Lanka, whose lives have been devastated by the tsunami and who now have to suffer from
renewed violence,

B. whereas there have been countless attacks in the Jaffna peninsula, Trincomalee and Batticaloa and the

officially registered ceasefire breaches run into thousands, most of them committed by the LTTE,

C. whereas tensions have been deliberately exacerbated by the attempted assassination of Lieutenant General
Sarath Fonseka, the Sri Lankan Army Commander, on 25 April 2006, the assassinations of Sri Lankan
Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar in August 2005 and Joseph Pararajasingha, MP, in December
2005, and the attack on the Batticaloa district office of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) on
13 January 2006 in a deliberate attempt to undermine the ceasefire agreement,

D. whereas on 11 May 2006 the LTTE attacked a vessel carrying 710 unarmed members of the security
forces on their way back after home leave, with members of the SLMMon board and flying the SLMM
flag, which was escorted by navy gun boats, sinking one of them and killing 18 of the crew members,

E. whereas over 300 people have died in attacks and violence this year in Sri Lanka,

F. whereas international monitors say that the recent violence is the most serious threat to the 2002 cease-
fire brokered by Norwegian mediators, previously weakened by a large number of reported ceasefire
breaches, including armed ambushes, abductions, intimidation, killings, torture and recruitment of chil-
dren as soldiers,

G. whereas after the first round held in Geneva in February 2006, the peace talks have been suspended
indefinitely after the LTTE again pulled out of a second round in April 2006, jeopardising the opportu-
nity for political progress,

H. whereas any restoration of the peace process should seek the involvement of a wide range of commu-

nities and political organisations in Sri Lanka, including Northern Muslim representatives,

I. whereas human rights organisations have not been able to effectively investigate human rights abuses,

and the SLMM does not have the mandate independently to investigate such abuses,

Strongly welcomed the move by the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE to return to the negotiating
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table in February 2006, and condemns, therefore, the LTTE's unilateral refusal to participate in the second
round of negotiations in Geneva that were scheduled for April 2006;

2. Urgently calls on the LTTE to resume peace negotiations with the Government of Sri Lanka without
delay, to be prepared to decommission its weapons and to set the stage for a final political settlement of the
conflict;

Severely condemns the renewed campaign of attacks by the LTTE, the high level of human rights viola-

3.
tions committed by both sides and the constant breaches of the ceasefire agreement;

4. Deplores the gross violations of the ceasefire agreement by the LTTE through actions at sea, in particu-
lar the attack of 11 May 2006 on the Sri Lankan naval force, which resulted in many casualties and put
SLMM monitors in grave danger;

5. Calls on the parties to the ceasefire agreement to ensure the security of the SLMM which is an unarmed
body invited by both the Government and the LTTE to monitor the ceasefire agreement, in order to allow
the mission to fulfil its mandate, and commends the contributing countries, Denmark, Finland, Iceland,
Norway and Sweden, for their invaluable work;

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Thursday, 18 May 2006

6. Calls on both the LTTE and the Sri Lankan Government to refrain from further actions liable to jeopar-
dise the peace process, and, in particular, attacks on civilians;

7.
Expresses its condemnation of the appalling abuse of children through the recruitment of child soldiers,
which is a war crime, and calls on all rebel groups and notably the LTTE to stop this practice, to release
those it holds and to make a declaration of principle not to recruit any children in the future; urges the
Government of Sri Lanka to put into place legal measures to prevent and criminalise the practice;

8. Recognises that the LTTE does not represent all the Tamil peoples of Sri Lanka and calls on the LTTE to
allow for political pluralism and alternate democratic voices in the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka
which would secure the interests of all peoples and communities;

9.
Strongly condemns the particular repression against Tamil language press and Tamil organisations, and
calls for a thorough investigation into the murders of Mayilvaganam Nimalarajan and Dharmeratnam
Sivaram, as well as the two employees of the newspaper ‘Uthayan’;

10. Recognises that Sri Lanka's recent election as a member of the UN Human Rights Council places an
obligation on the government to manifest its commitment to uphold the highest standards in the promotion
and protection of human rights;

11. Welcomes therefore the announcement of new members of Sri Lanka's Human Rights Commission
and stresses the need for an effective independent investigation into all alleged human rights violations by
security forces or armed groups, bringing the perpetrators to justice in accordance with international fair
trial standards; insists that all parties should subscribe to comprehensive human rights agreements as a key
element of future peace negotiations;

12. Urges both sides, as an immediate gesture of goodwill, to cease the use of anti-personnel landmines
and to assist in their removal, and considers that, to this end, the Government of Sri Lanka should set an
example by signing the 1997 Ottawa Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and
Transfer or Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction and the LTTE should sign the Geneva Call ‘Deed
of Commitment’;

Is worried at the fact that a deal to share international aid has still not been implemented, and believes
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that aid sent to Sri Lanka by the EU, and other international donors, in response to the tsunami must
benefit the victims of that disaster without regard for their ethnic or religious denomination; but is
concerned about the distribution and use of tsunami funds, which have not had the expected impact on the
everyday lives of the victims or on Sri Lanka's recovery; notes that the political gridlock on the ‘Post-
Tsunami Operations Management Structure’ has already delayed the release of a further 50 million euro in
aid, hindering reconstruction work in the North and East of Sri Lanka;

14. Deplores the fact that the demands of heavy defence costs have for many years diverted resources
away from urgently needed investments in economic and social infrastructure in Sri Lanka;

15. Calls on the Member States to do everything in their capacity in order to stop all illegal attempts by
the LTTE to uphold a system of forced taxation of sections of the Tamil community living in the European
Union;

16. Calls on the Commission and the Member States, as part of this process, to follow the example of
other countries and to freeze the assets of the LTTE-associated bank accounts, holdings, companies or under-
takings in Member States;

17. Recognises that the EU has declared that delegations from the LTTE will no longer be received in any
of the Member States until further notice, and that the EU is actively considering the formal listing of the
LTTE as a terrorist organisation;

18. Calls on the Council, the Commission and the Member States to remain committed to a fair and
sustainable solution to the Sri Lankan conflict and reiterates its support for all the people of Sri Lanka and
their President, Mahinda Rajapakse, as they address together the challenges that lie ahead;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of
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the other members of the Sri Lanka Donor Co-Chairs Group (Norway, the USA and Japan), the UN Secre-
tary-General, the governments of Switzerland, Sri Lanka and the other countries in the South Asian Associa-
tion for Regional Cooperation, and the LTTE.