Release date:  14 August 2002
Release time: Immediate

COMPLAINTS AND VIOLATIONS OF THE CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT AS OF 31ST OF JULY

Of the total valid complaints that have been processed by Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, SLMM, since the beginning of the Ceasefire Agreement, 576 have been made against the LTTE and 164 against the Government of Sri Lanka or a Grand Total of 740. Thereof, already 146 have been ruled as violations of the LTTE and 28 have been ruled as violations of the Government side. The most common Violations of LTTE are 55 cases of Underage Recruitment, 43 cases of Abduction and 20 cases of Harassment. The most common Violations of the Government side are 11 cases of Harassment, 6 cases of Restriction of Movement and 5 cases of Restriction of Fishery.
 

In addition to these ruled violations 125 complaints have been made against LTTE for Underage Recruitment, 116 concerning Abduction/Missing people, and 71 for Harassment. Against the Government side, there have been 39 complaints made for Harassment, 31 for Occupation of Civilian land and Property and 10 for Restriction of Movement. SLMM is still inquiring into these cases and has not yet ruled if they are violations or nonviolations of the Ceasefire Agreement. Most Complaints have been received in Batticaloa District, or 231. Then comes Jaffna and Trincomalee District. Much fewer complaints have been made in Vavuniya District, Ampara and the fewest in Mannar, only 54 complaints.
 

The significant increase in Ruled Violations since SLMM’s Summary as of the 30th of June can partly be explained by the fact that some of them are rulings on complaints from the months of April, May and June. Likewise, the significant increase of Complaints in July can partly be explained by the fact that a bigger part of the population has realised they can file a complaint with SLMM. More importantly, the public has now much better access to SLMM, after it has opened three new offices; On the island of Kayts, in Akkaraipattu and Valaichchenai.
 

Nevertheless, it is clear that at this point in time the LTTE has to do better in adhering to the Ceasefire Agreement, considering the high number of complaints and violations concerning Abductions and Underage Recruitment. This practice is not only a Violation of the Ceasefire Agreement and International Law, but is also hindering The Restoration of Normalcy in Sri Lanka, in otherwise peaceful times. At a meeting with Hagrup Haukland, Acting Head of SLMM, in Kilinochchi on Wednesday, the LTTE Political Leadership rejected the Violations and Complaints as wrongful allegations. Hagrup Haukland stated after the meeting that: “It is clear that the LTTE is taking this issue very seriously. SLMM is confident that the LTTE will find a solution to this matter because they are very much committed to the Ceasefire Agreement and the Peace Process. Today, the LTTE promised SLMM their full cooperation and asked for details on all alleged Abductions and Underage Recruitment cases. LTTE promised to do an Internal Investigation on these issues and take whatever action necessary.”
 

Released By
SLMM HQ
Colombo

Ref: SLMM HQ/14th August 2002/MED/6011