This would make a good movie
Soon the whole country of Sri Lanka will be in havoc again. Both LTTE and Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) have heavily armed forces and - I'm just guessing here - some civilians are either hired to commit violations or are just damn stupid doing so. Hence, the Cease Fire Agreement cannot be kept, neither by LTTE nor by the GOSL.For once, the promises made seem to be of little or no value for both sides. This might be a cultural thing or just a matter of trust: Once the two parties agree on something, someone - who's not necessarily from LTTE or GOSL - goes and kills a politician or an officer... and the hell breaks loose again!
If only the general public would know what is actually happening behind the scenes. I bet there's a lot of money circulating around through the dirty hands of many. Publicly, it is said that agreement for peace would be the best option for all. In practice, people seem to have either differing aims or they just hold grievances of the deeds done in the past.
This would make a good movie. However, at least for me it would be damn difficult to tell who are the bad guys and who are the heroes. At least for now, my impression is that by committing acts of violence the people of Sri Lanka are just "peeing in their own cereal" - if you excuse my harsh figure of speech.
Finally, when I say "people of Sri Lanka" I mean just a fraction of the total amount of inhabitants on the island. Every Sri Lankan I've met so far, have been the most warm-hearted, laid-back and symphatetic people I've ever met! Can't wait to be there...
posted by Tomi Astikainen @ Friday, July 07, 2006
1 Comments:
Hey,
Just wanted to point out a couple of consecutive press releases of INDEPENDENT and international Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (www.slmm.lk) that represents the freedom of speech:
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29 April 2006
1) SUBJECT: Air strikes violate the Ceasefire Agreement
The air strikes that were conducted by the Sri Lankan Government in Trincomalee district on Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) targets in Sampoor area on 25 and 26 April 2006 are a clear violation of the Ceasefire Agreement.
Article 1.2 of the Ceasefire Agreement clearly states “Neither Party shall engage in any offensive military operation”.
The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission would like to urge the Government of Sri Lanka to refrain from such operations as they can jeopardise the Ceasefire further and will only add fuel to the conflict
With regards to the LTTE the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission would like to stress that it is inexcusable to place military or political targets amongst the civilian population close to schools and private houses.
Although the situation has calmed down in the last couple of days it is still worrying to see that claymore mine attacks and killings of civilians and army personnel continue. The LTTE must seize all their military activities and attacks on Government forces.
We also fear that Government Security forces have, in the North and the East, been involved in extrajudicial killings of civilians. This conviction is based on our observation and inquiries on the ground.
This violence must stop immediately if the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE are to make any progress in returning to the negotiation table.
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2) SUBJECT: Clarification – regarding SLMM press release from 29 April 2006
After consulting with the Sri Lankan Government the SLMM has decided to make the following statement:
With reference to a press release sent out by the SLMM on 29 April 2006 we would like to clarify the issue regarding our concerns over certain unexplained violent deaths of civilians.
SLMM monitors on the ground have expressed some concerns over the last few weeks and months regarding the behaviour of some on the ground that might have been directly or indirectly involved in clandestine activities against civilians.
It was not the SLMM’s intension to generalise or pass judgements on the Sri Lankan armed forces and police. The Sri Lankan Government has conveyed to us that they are not aware of any such activities within their ranks. We believe that the Sri Lankan Government is sincere in this respect and are committed to prevent any such clandestine activities from taking place.
Should any such cases arise again the SLMM will bring such cases immediately to the attention of the Sri Lankan Government for their action.
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