Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; , ; also known as the Tamil Tigers) was a Tamil militant organization, that was based in northern and eastern Sri Lanka. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eelam in the northeast of the island

The leader of the LTTE, Velupillai Prabhakaran, cited the 1958 anti-Tamil pogrom as one of the factors that led him to militancy. In 1975, he assassinated the Mayor of Jaffna, Alfred Duraiappah, in revenge for the 1974 Tamil conference incident. The LTTE was subsequently founded in 1976 as a reaction to the Sri Lankan Constitution of 1972 which prescribed Buddhism as the primary religion of the country, and Sinhala as its national language. The LTTE was involved in attacks on government targets, policemen and local politicians and moved on to armed clashes against the armed forces. Oppression against Sri Lankan Tamils continued by Sinhalese mobs, notably during the 1977 anti-Tamil pogrom and the 1981 burning of the Jaffna Public Library. Following the watershed Black July anti-Tamil pogrom in 1983 orchestrated by members of the government, there was a dramatic growth of Tamil militant groups and a full-scale insurgency began, marking the start of the Sri Lankan civil war. It would go on to be widely regarded as among the most effective and disciplined insurgent groups in the world.

Initially starting out as a guerrilla force, the LTTE increasingly came to resemble conventional armed forces with a well-developed military wing that included a navy, an airborne unit, an intelligence wing, and a specialised suicide attack unit. The LTTE perfected suicide bombing as a tactic. It engaged in a hybrid warfare encompassing both military and civilian targets. The LTTE was designated as a terrorist organisation by 33 countries, including the European Union, Canada, the United States and India.

Over the course of the conflict, the LTTE frequently exchanged control of territory in the north-east with the Sri Lankan military, with the two sides engaging in intense military confrontations. It was involved in four unsuccessful rounds of peace talks with the Sri Lankan government and at its peak in 2000, the LTTE was in control of 76% of the landmass in the Northern and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka. Prabhakaran headed the organisation from its inception until his death in 2009. Between 1983 and 2009, at least 100,000 were killed in the civil war, of which many were Sri Lankan Tamils. Many Sri Lankan Tamils also left Sri Lanka for various destinations, mainly Western countries and India, forming the pivotal Tamil diaspora estimated at one million.

History

Background

Emergence of Tamil militancy has its roots in the political developments and ethnic tensions in post-independent Sri Lanka. Sinhalese-led governments attempted to reduce the increased presence of the Tamil minority in government jobs, including the "Sinhala Only Act" and anti-Tamil riots, which gave rise to separatist ideologies among many Tamil leaders.

In the early 1970s, the United Front government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike introduced the policy of standardisation to curtail the number of Tamil students selected for certain faculties in the universities. In 1972, the government added a district quota as a parameter within each language. A student named Satiyaseelan formed Tamil Manavar Peravai (Tamil Students League) to counter this. This group comprised Tamil youth who advocated the rights of students to have fair enrolment. Inspired by the failed 1971 insurrection of Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, it was the first Tamil militant group of its kind. It consisted of around 40 Tamil youth, including Ponnuthurai Sivakumaran (later, the leader of the Sivakumaran group), K. Pathmanaba (one of the founder members of EROS) and Velupillai Prabhakaran, an 18-year-old youth from Valvettithurai (VVT).

In 1972, Prabhakaran teamed up with Chetti Thanabalasingam in Jaffna to form the Tamil New Tigers (TNT), with Thanabalasingham as its leader. After he was killed, Prabhakaran took over. At the same time, Nadarajah Thangathurai and Selvarajah Yogachandran (better known by his nom de guerre Kuttimani) were also involved in discussions about an insurgency. They would later (in 1979) create a separate organisation named Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) to campaign for the establishment of an independent Tamil Eelam. These groups, along with another prominent figure of the armed struggle, Ponnuthurai Sivakumaran, were involved in several hit-and-run operations against pro-government Tamil politicians, Sri Lanka Police and civil administration during the early 1970s. These attacks included throwing bombs at the residence and the car of SLFP Jaffna Mayor, Alfred Duraiyappah, placing a bomb at a carnival held in the stadium of Jaffna city (now "Duraiyappah stadium") and Neervely bank robbery. The 1974 Tamil conference incident during which intervention by Sri Lankan police resulted in 11 dead also sparked the anger of these militant groups. Both Sivakumaran and Prabhakaran attempted to assassinate Duraiyappah in revenge for the incident. Sivakumaran committed suicide on 5 June 1974, to evade capture by Police. On 27 July 1975, Prabhakaran assassinated Duraiyappah, who was branded as a "traitor" by TULF and the insurgents alike. Prabhakaran shot and killed the Mayor when he was visiting the Krishnan temple at Ponnalai.

Founding and rise to power

thumb|TL: Ground Troops, TR:Air Force, BL: Black Tigers (Suicide Bombers) and BR: Naval Forces

The LTTE was founded on 5 May 1976 as the successor to the Tamil New Tigers. Uma Maheswaran became its leader, and Prabhakaran its military commander. A five-member committee was also appointed. It has been stated that Prabhakaran sought to "refashion the old TNT/new LTTE into an elite, ruthlessly efficient, and highly professional fighting force", The LTTE carried out low-key attacks against various government targets, including policemen and local politicians.

TULF support

Tamil United Liberation Front leader Appapillai Amirthalingam, who was in 1977 elected as the Opposition leader of Sri Lanka Parliament, clandestinely supported the LTTE. Amirthalingam believed that if he could exercise control over the Tamil insurgent groups, it would enhance his political position and pressure the government to agree to grant political autonomy to the Tamils. Thus, he provided letters of reference to the LTTE and to other Tamil insurgent groups to raise funds. Both Uma Maheswaran (a former surveyor) and Urmila Kandiah, the first female member of the LTTE, were prominent members of the TULF youth wing.

In 1980, Junius Richard Jayewardene's government agreed to devolve power by the means of District Development Councils upon the request of TULF. By this time, LTTE and other insurgent groups wanted a separate state. They had no faith in any sort of political solution. Thus the TULF and other Tamil political parties were steadily marginalized and insurgent groups emerged as the major force in the north. During this period of time, several other insurgent groups came into the arena, such as Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (1975), Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (1979), PLOTE (1980), Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (1980) and Tamil Eelam Liberation Army (1982). LTTE ordered civilians to boycott the local government elections of 1983 which TULF contested. Voter turnout became as low as 10%. Thereafter, Tamil political parties were largely unable to represent the Tamil people as insurgent groups took over their position. The ambush provided the pretext for the pre-planned Black July pogrom to be unleashed against the Tamil community in which 3,500-4,000 Tamils were killed. Before the pogrom the LTTE had only 30 full-time members. Among the notable members to join the LTTE following the pogrom included its eastern commander Karuna Amman, its police chief Balasingham Nadesan and its first suicide attacker Captain Miller.

Indian support

In reaction to various geopolitical and economic factors, from August 1983 to May 1987, India, through its intelligence agency the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), provided arms, training and monetary support to six Sri Lankan Tamil insurgent groups including the LTTE. During that period, 32 camps were set up in India to train these 495 LTTE insurgents, including 90 women who were trained in 10 batches. The first batch of Tigers were trained in Establishment 22 based in Chakrata, Uttarakhand. The second batch, including LTTE intelligence chief Pottu Amman, trained in Himachal Pradesh. Prabakaran visited the first and the second batch of Tamil Tigers to see them training. Eight other batches of LTTE were trained in Tamil Nadu. Thenmozhi Rajaratnam alias Dhanu, who carried out the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi and Sivarasan, the key conspirator, were among the militants trained by RAW in Nainital, India.

In April 1984, the LTTE formally joined a common militant front, the Eelam National Liberation Front (ENLF), a union between LTTE, TELO, EROS and EPRLF.

Clashes with other insurgent groups

TELO usually held the Indian view of problems and pushed for India's view during peace talks with Sri Lanka and other groups. LTTE denounced the TELO view and claimed that India was only acting on its own interest. As a result, the LTTE broke from the ENLF in 1986. Soon fighting broke out between the TELO and the LTTE and clashes occurred over the next few months. As a result, almost the entire TELO leadership and at least 400 TELO militants were killed by the LTTE. The LTTE attacked training camps of the EPRLF a few months later, forcing it to withdraw from the Jaffna Peninsula. LTTE members were prohibited from smoking cigarettes and consuming alcohol in any form. LTTE members were required to avoid their family members and avoid communication with them. Initially, LTTE members were prohibited from having love affairs or sexual relationships as it could deter their prime motive, but this policy changed after Prabhakaran married Mathivathani Erambu in October 1984.

IPKF period

In July 1987, faced with growing anger among its own Tamils and a flood of refugees,

War against IPKF

Although the Tamil militant organizations did not have a role in the Indo-Lanka agreement, LTTE rejected the accord because they opposed EPRLF's Varadaraja Perumal as the chief ministerial candidate for the merged North Eastern Province.

Thus LTTE engaged in military conflict with the Indian Army, and launched its first attack on an Indian army rations truck on 8 October, killing five Indian para-commandos who were on board by strapping burning tires around their necks. The government of India stated that the IPKF should disarm the LTTE by force. The Indian Army launched assaults on the LTTE, including a month-long campaign, Operation Pawan to win control of the Jaffna Peninsula. The ruthlessness of this campaign, and the Indian army's subsequent anti-LTTE operations, which included civilian massacres and rapes made it extremely unpopular among many Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Premadasa government support

The Indian intervention was also unpopular among the Sinhalese majority. Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa pledged to withdraw IPKF as soon as he was elected president during his presidential election campaign in 1988. After being elected, in April 1989, he started negotiations with LTTE. President Premadasa ordered the Sri Lanka Army to clandestinely hand over arms consignments to the LTTE to fight the IPKF and its proxy, the Tamil National Army (TNA). These consignments included RPGs, mortars, self-loading rifles, Type 81 assault rifle, T56 automatic rifles, pistols, hand grenades, ammunition, and communications sets. Moreover, millions of dollars were also passed on to the LTTE.

After IPKF

The last members of the IPKF, which was estimated to have had a strength of well over 100,000 at its peak, left the country in March 1990 upon the request of President Premadasa. Unstable peace initially held between the government and the LTTE, and peace talks progressed towards providing devolution for Tamils in the north and east of the country. A ceasefire held between LTTE and the government from June 1989 to June 1990, but broke down as LTTE massacred 600 police officers in the Eastern Province.

Fighting continued throughout the 1990s, and was marked by two key assassinations carried out by the LTTE: those of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, and Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1993, using suicide bombers on both occasions. The fighting briefly halted in 1994 following the election of Chandrika Kumaratunga as President of Sri Lanka and the onset of peace talks, but fighting resumed after LTTE sacked two SLN gunboats on 19 April 1995. In a series of military operations that followed, the Sri Lanka Armed Forces recaptured the Jaffna Peninsula. Further offensives followed over the next three years, and the military captured large areas in the north of the country from the LTTE, including areas in the Vanni region, the town of Kilinochchi, and many smaller towns. From 1998 onward, the LTTE regained control of these areas, which culminated in the capture in April 2000 of the strategically important Elephant Pass base complex, located at the entrance of the Jaffna Peninsula, after prolonged fighting against the Sri Lanka Army.

Mahattaya, a one-time deputy leader of 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.

2002 ceasefire

thumb|left|An LTTE [[bicycle infantry platoon north of Kilinochchi in 2004]]

In 2002, the LTTE dropped its demand for a separate state, instead demanding a form of regional autonomy. Following the landslide election defeat of Kumaratunga and Ranil Wickramasinghe coming to power in December 2001, the LTTE declared a unilateral ceasefire. The Sri Lankan Government agreed to the ceasefire, and in March 2002 the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) was signed. As part of the agreement, Norway and other Nordic countries agreed to jointly monitor the ceasefire through the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission.

Six rounds of peace talks between the Government of Sri Lanka and LTTE were held, but they were temporarily suspended after the LTTE pulled out of the talks in 2003 claiming "certain critical issues relating to the ongoing peace process". In 2003 the LTTE proposed an Interim Self-Governing Authority (ISGA). This move was approved of by the international community but rejected by the Sri Lankan President. The LTTE boycotted the presidential election in December 2005. While LTTE claimed that the people under its control were free to vote, it is alleged that they used threats to prevent the population from voting. The United States condemned this.

thumb|A mother of a dead LTTE cadre raises the [[Flag of Tamil Eelam|Tamil Eelam flag on Maaveerar Naal 2002 in Germany]]

The new government of Sri Lanka came into power in 2006 and demanded to abrogate the ceasefire agreement, stating that the ethnic conflict could only have a military solution, and that the only way to achieve this was by eliminating the LTTE. Further peace talks were scheduled in Oslo, Norway, on 8 and 9 June 2006, but cancelled when the LTTE refused to meet directly with the government delegation, stating its fighters were not being allowed safe passage to travel to the talks. Norwegian mediator Erik Solheim told journalists that the LTTE should take direct responsibility for the collapse of the talks. Rifts grew between the government and LTTE, and resulted in a number of ceasefire agreement violations by both sides during 2006. Suicide attacks, military skirmishes, and air raids took place during the latter part of 2006. Between February 2002 to May 2007, the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission documented 3,830 ceasefire violations by the LTTE, with respect to 351 by the security forces. Military confrontation continued into 2007 and 2008. In January 2008 the government officially pulled out of the Cease Fire Agreement.

Dissension

In the most significant show of dissent from within the organisation, 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 (later Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal), amid allegations that the northern commanders were overlooking the needs of the eastern Tamils. The LTTE leadership accused him of mishandling funds and questioned him about his recent personal behaviour. He tried to take control of the eastern province from the LTTE, which caused clashes between the LTTE and TMVP. The LTTE suggested that TMVP was backed by the government, and the Nordic SLMM monitors corroborated this. It was later revealed that UNP Member of Parliament Seyed Ali Zahir Moulana had played an important role in the defection of Colonel Karuna from the LTTE to the Government.

Military defeat

Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected as the president of Sri Lanka in 2005. After a brief period of negotiations, LTTE pulled out of peace talks indefinitely. Sporadic violence had continued and on 25 April 2006, LTTE tried to assassinate Sri Lankan Army Commander Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka. Following the attack, the European Union proscribed the LTTE as a terrorist organisation. A new crisis leading to the first large-scale fighting since signing of the ceasefire occurred when the LTTE closed the sluice gates of the Mavil Oya (Mavil Aru) reservoir on 21 July 2006, and cut the water supply to 15,000 villages in government controlled areas. This dispute developed into a full-scale war by August 2006.

After the breakdown of the peace process in 2006, the Sri Lankan military launched a major offensive against the Tigers, defeating the LTTE militarily and bringing the entire country under its control. Human rights groups criticised the nature of the victory which included the internment of Tamil civilians in concentration camps with little or no access to outside agencies. Victory over the Tigers was declared by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on 16 May 2009, and the LTTE admitted defeat on 17 May 2009. Prabhakaran was killed by government forces on 19 May 2009. Selvarasa Pathmanathan succeeded Prabhakaran as leader of the LTTE, but he was later arrested in Malaysia and handed over to the Sri Lankan government in August 2009.

Defeat in the East

Eelam War IV had commenced in the East. Mavil Aru came under the control of the Sri Lanka Army by 15 August 2006. Systematically, Sampoor, Vakarai, Kanjikudichchi Aru and Batticaloa also came under military control. The military then captured Thoppigala, the Tiger stronghold in Eastern Province on 11 July 2007. IPKF had failed to capture it from LTTE during its offensive in 1988.

Defeat in the North

Sporadic fighting had been happening in the North for months, but the intensity of the clashes increased after September 2007. Gradually, the defence lines of the LTTE began to fall. The advancing military confined the LTTE into rapidly diminishing areas in the North. Earlier, on 2 November 2007, S. P. Thamilselvan, who was the head of the rebels' political wing, was killed during another government air raid. On 2 January 2008, the Sri Lankan government officially abandoned the ceasefire agreement. By 2 August 2008, LTTE lost the Mannar District following the fall of Vellankulam town. Troops captured Pooneryn and Mankulam during the final months of 2008.

On 2 January 2009, the President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, announced that the Sri Lankan troops had captured Kilinochchi, the city which the LTTE had used for over a decade as its de facto administrative capital. On the same day, President Rajapaksa called upon LTTE to surrender. As of 8 January 2009, the LTTE abandoned its positions on the Jaffna peninsula to make a last stand in the jungles of Mullaitivu, their last main base. The Jaffna Peninsula was captured by the Sri Lankan Army by 14 January. On 25 January 2009, SLA troops "completely captured" Mullaitivu town, the last major LTTE stronghold.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared military victory over the Tamil Tigers on 16 May 2009, after 26 years of conflict. The rebels offered to lay down their weapons in return for a guarantee of safety. On 17 May 2009, LTTE's head of the Department of International Relations, Selvarasa Pathmanathan conceded defeat, saying in an email statement, "this battle has reached its bitter end".

Aftermath

With the end of the hostilities, 11,664 LTTE members, including 595 child soldiers surrendered to the Sri Lankan military. Approximately 150 hardcore LTTE cadres and 1,000 mid-level cadres escaped to India. The government detained surrendered cadres for "rehabilitation" under a National Action Plan for the Re-integration of Ex-combatants while allegations of torture, rape and murder of detainees were reported by international human rights bodies. They were divided into three categories; hardcore, non-combatants, and those who were forcibly recruited (including child soldiers). Twenty-four rehabilitation centres were set up in Jaffna, Batticaloa, and Vavuniya. Among the apprehended cadres, there had been about 700 hardcore members. Some of these cadres were integrated into the State Intelligence Service to tackle the internal and external networks of LTTE. By August 2011, the government had released more than 8,000 cadres, and 2,879 remained.

Continued operations

After the death of LTTE leader Prabhakaran and the most powerful members of the organisation, Selvarasa Pathmanathan (alias KP) was its sole first generation leader left alive. He assumed duty as the new leader of LTTE on 21 July 2009. A statement was issued, allegedly from the executive committee of the LTTE, stating that Pathmanathan had been appointed leader of the LTTE. 15 days after the announcement, on 5 August 2009, a Sri Lankan military intelligence unit, with the collaboration of local authorities, captured Pathmanathan in the Tune Hotel, in downtown Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Sri Lanka Ministry of Defence alleges that Perinpanayagam Sivaparan alias Nediyavan of the Tamil Eelam People's Alliance (TEPA) in Norway, Suren Surendiran of British Tamils Forum (BTF), Father S. J. Emmanuel of Global Tamil Forum (GTF), Visvanathan Rudrakumaran of Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) and Sekarapillai Vinayagamoorthy alias Kathirgamathamby Arivazhagan alias Vinayagam, a former senior intelligence leader are trying to revive the organisation among the Tamil diaspora. Subsequently, in May 2011, Nediyavan, who advocates an armed struggle against the Sri Lankan state, was arrested and released on bail in Norway, pending further investigation.

Divisions

thumb|left|LTTE women's wing marching in a parade.

The LTTE was viewed as a disciplined and militarised group with a leader of a significant military and organisational skills. auxiliary military units such as Kittu artillery brigade, Kutti Sri mortar brigade, Ponnamman mining unit and hit-and-run squads like Pistol gang. Charles Anthony brigade was the first conventional fighting formation created by LTTE. The Sea Tiger division was founded in 1984, under the leadership of Thillaiyampalam Sivanesan alias Soosai. LTTE acquired its first light aircraft in the late 1990s. Vaithilingam Sornalingam alias Shankar was instrumental in creating the Air Tigers. It carried out nine air attacks since 2007, including a suicide air raid targeting Sri Lanka Air Force headquarters, Colombo in February 2009. LTTE was the only rebel organisation to have an air force. LTTE intelligence wing consisted of Tiger Organisation Security Intelligence Service aka TOSIS, run by Pottu Amman, and a separate military intelligence division. The LTTE cadres were required to follow a strict code of conduct which included prohibition on smoking and consumption of alcohol, with sexual relationships also being regulated. Each member carried a cyanide capsule to commit suicide in case of capture.

{| style="text-align:center; float:right; font-size:85%; margin-left:2em; margin:auto;" class="wikitable"

|+ Aircraft that had been in LTTE possession Major sections within the political wing include International peace secretariat, led by Pulidevan, LTTE Police, LTTE court, Bank of Tamil Eelam, Sports division and the "Voice of Tigers" radio broadcasting station of LTTE.

LTTE used female cadres for military engagements. Its women's wing consisted of Malathi and Sothiya Brigades.

Governance

left|thumb|[[Kilinochchi District court in LTTE-administered Tamil Eelam]]

During its active years, the LTTE had established and administered a de facto state under its control, named Tamil Eelam with Kilinochchi as its administrative capital, and had managed a government in its territory, providing state functions such as courts, a police force, a human rights organisation, and a humanitarian assistance board, a health board, and an education board. It ran a bank (Bank of Tamil Eelam), a radio station (Voice of Tigers) and a television station (National Television of Tamil Eelam). In the LTTE-controlled areas, women reported lower levels of domestic violence because "the Tigers had a de facto justice system to deal with domestic violence." The United States Department of State described LTTE's governance as an "authoritarian military rule" that violated civil liberties and discriminated against minorities. Based on the survey of the Jaffna population by the BBC and Reuters journalists, a U.S. diplomatic cable from 1994 stated that support for the LTTE was fairly strong among the Jaffna population who admired the discipline of the LTTE's administrative service, and that majority of Jaffna residents would choose the LTTE over the Sri Lankan Army given the choice. According to the assessments by independent observers, the LTTE administration of justice gained "significant social acceptance", and its courts were broadly seen as "more efficient, less expensive, and less vulnerable to corruption than their Sri Lankan counterparts." The LTTE police force also had "a high degree of legitimacy" among Tamil civilians who viewed it as "an uncorrupt and important stabilizing factor in the region." A survey carried out by the Centre for Policy Alternatives in 2002 from a sample of 89 Sri Lankan Tamils found that 89% regarded the LTTE as their sole representatives.

However, University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna), a local human rights NGO that has been accused of anti-LTTE bias by some critics, claimed that "by combination of internal terror and narrow nationalist ideology the LTTE succeeded in atomising the community. It took away not only the right to oppose but even the right to evaluate, as a community, the course they were taking. This gives a semblance of illusion that the whole society is behind the LTTE." After meeting with the Tamil civil society in Jaffna in 2001, Jehan Perera, the executive director of the National Peace Council of Sri Lanka, observed that fear was not the only factor that impelled civic groups in Jaffna to speak in favour of the LTTE but that the Jaffna people had recognized the LTTE's military strength and pragmatically accepted it as the main player in achieving a negotiated settlement.

Ideology

The LTTE was a self-styled national liberation organisation with the primary goal of establishing an independent Tamil state. Tamil nationalism was the primary basis of its ideology. LTTE claimed to strive for a democratic, secular state that is based on socialism. Its leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was influenced by Indian freedom fighters such as Subhas Chandra Bose. The organisation denied being a separatist movement and saw itself as fighting for self-determination and restoration of sovereignty in what it recognised as Tamil homeland. Although most Tigers were Hindus, the LTTE was an avowedly secular organisation; religion did not play any significant part in its ideology. Prabhakaran criticised what he saw as the oppressive features of traditional Hindu Tamil society, such as the caste system and gender inequality. The LTTE presented itself as a revolutionary movement seeking widespread change within Tamil society, not just independence from the Sri Lankan state. Therefore, its ideology called for the removal of caste discrimination and support for women's liberation. Prabhakaran described his political philosophy as "revolutionary socialism", with the goal of creating an "egalitarian society". However, by 2002 with the shift in geopolitical climate, Prabhakaran endorsed "open market economy", but he pointed out that the question about the proper economic system can be considered only after the ethnic problem had been solved.

Global network

LTTE had developed a large international network since the days of N. S. Krishnan, who served as its first international representative. In the late 1970s, TULF parliamentarian and opposition leader A. Amirthalingam provided letters of reference for fundraising, and V. N. Navaratnam, who was an executive committee member of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), introduced many influential and wealthy Tamils living overseas to Tamil insurgent leaders. The global contacts of LTTE grew steadily since then. At the height of its power, LTTE had 42 offices worldwide. The international network of LTTE engages in propaganda, fundraising, arms procurement, and shipping. LTTE was worth US$200–300 million at its peak. The group's global network owned numerous business ventures in various countries. These include investment in real estate, shipping, grocery stores, gold and jewellery stores, gas stations, restaurants, production of films, mass media organisations (TV, radio, print), and industries. It was also in control of numerous charitable organisations, which included, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation.

Arms Procurement and shipping activities of LTTE were largely clandestine. Prior to 1983, it procured weapons mainly from Afghanistan via the Indo-Pakistani border. Explosives were purchased from commercial markets in India. From 1983 to 1987, LTTE acquired a substantial amount of weapons from RAW and from Lebanon, Cyprus, Singapore, and Malaysia-based arms dealers. LTTE received its first consignment of arms from Singapore in 1984 on board the MV Cholan, the first ship owned by the organisation. Funds were received and cargo cleared at Chennai Port with the assistance of M. G. Ramachandran, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. In November 1994, the LTTE was able to purchase 60 tonnes of explosives (50 tonnes of TNT and 10 tonnes of RDX) from Rubezone Chemical plant in Ukraine, providing a forged Bangladeshi Ministry of Defence end-user certificate. Payments for the explosives were made from a Citibank account in Singapore held by Selvarasa Pathmanathan. Consignment was transported on board MV Sewne. The same explosives were used for the Central Bank bombing in 1996. Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia and Indonesia remained the most trusted outposts of LTTE, after India alienated it following the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.

thumb|A LTTE Sea Tiger fast attack fibreglass boat passing a Sri Lankan freighter sunk by the Sea Tigers just north of the village of [[Mullaitivu, North-eastern Sri Lanka]]

According to Rohan Gunaratna, since late 1997, North Korea became the principal country to provide arms, ammunition, and explosives to the LTTE. The deal with North Korean government was carried out by Ponniah Anandaraja alias Aiyannah, a member of World Tamil Coordinating Committee of the United States and later, the accountant of LTTE. These ships mostly transported general cargo, including paddy, sugar, timber, glass, and fertilizer. But when an arms deal was finalized, they travelled to North Korea, loaded the cargo and brought it to the equator, where the ships were based. Then on board merchant tankers, weapons were transferred to the sea of Alampil, just outside the territorial waters in Sri Lanka's exclusive economic zone. After that, small teams of Sea Tigers brought the cargo ashore. The Sri Lanka Navy, during 2005–08 destroyed at least 11 of these cargo ships belonged to LTTE in the international waters.

LTTE's last shipment of weapons was in March 2009, towards the end of the war. The merchant vessel Princess Iswari went from Indonesia to North Korea under captain Kamalraj Kandasamy alias Vinod, loaded the weapons and came back to international waters beyond Sri Lanka. But due to the heavy naval blockades set up by the Sri Lankan Navy, it could not deliver the arms consignment. Thus it dumped the weapons in the sea. The same ship, after changing its name to MV Ocean Lady, arrived in Vancouver with 76 migrants, in October 2009. In December 2009, The Sri Lankan Navy apprehended a merchant vessel belonging to LTTE, Princess Chrisanta in Indonesia and brought it back to Sri Lanka.

The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations (USSFRC) and Ethiopian based Jimma Times claimed that the Eritrean government had provided direct military assistance, including light aircraft to LTTE, during the 2002–03 period when the LTTE was negotiating with the Sri Lankan government via the Norwegian mediators. It was also alleged that Erik Solheim, the chief Norwegian facilitator, helped LTTE to establish this relationship. These allegations and a suspicion from within the Sri Lankan armed forces, that LTTE had considerable connections and assets in Eritrea and that its leader Prabhakaran might try to flee to Eritrea in the final stages of war, prompted the Sri Lankan government to establish diplomatic relations with Eritrea in 2009.

In 2013, Thiruthanikan Thanigasalam and Sahilal Sabaratnam were sentenced to 25 years in prison in Brooklyn in connection of attempting to purchase high-powered weaponry for the LTTE. They were caught in a FBI undercover sting operation while attempting to purchase surface-to-air missiles, missile launchers, and assault rifles.

Proscription as a terrorist group

Thirty-three countries currently list the LTTE as a terrorist organization. As of October 2019, these include:

(since 1992)
(designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations by the Department of State since 8 October 1997. Named as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) since 2 November 2001)
(designated a Proscribed Terrorist Group under the Terrorism Act 2000 since 29 March 2001)
(since 2006; 27 countries)
(since 2006)
(from January 1998 to 4 September 2002, and again from 7 January 2009)
(since 2014)

The framing of terrorism, despite having no universally accepted definition, carries a connotation of moral illegitimacy and, as proscription, is used by states to criminalize their opponents and justify "extreme" measures against them. In the Sri Lankan context, proscription is also used to delegitimize the LTTE's political objective of establishing an independent state. There is resistance in the international community to the alteration of state boundaries by force and no state recognized Tamil claim of self-determination. The proscriptions by Western states reflected their opposition to LTTE's political objective than concern about its threat to their own national security. Moreover, despite its human rights abuses, Western states regarded Sri Lanka as a democratic ally in their promotion of a global liberal order and were committed to upholding its sovereignty. Hence, proscription was also used by these states to shape the conduct of the LTTE and Tamil diaspora to align with their foreign policy aims.

The first country to ban the LTTE was its brief ally, India, following the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. In 2012 after the LTTE's defeat, the Indian Government extended the ban on the LTTE on the grounds of its alleged "strong anti-India posture and threat to the security of Indian nationals".

Sri Lanka first banned the LTTE in 1998, lifted the ban before signing the ceasefire agreement in 2002 and reintroduced the ban in 2009.

The United States proscribed the LTTE as a foreign terrorist organization in October 1997. A U.S. ambassador later explained that the main rationale behind the ban was to prevent LTTE's fundraising and for it to negotiate with the Sri Lankan government. The Pentagon had launched a military programme in March 1996 to train the Sri Lankan military after a series of LTTE attacks which affected U.S. commercial interests on the island but it failed to weaken the LTTE due to its procurement of conventional weapons with funds raised overseas. In 2003, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage, urged the LTTE to renounce its armed struggle for separate state and to accept the Sri Lankan government's sovereignty in order for the proscription to be lifted. The then Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera later recounted that there was a difficulty in adopting the ban as a unanimous decision due to the opposition from seven countries in the 25-member EU and that consensus was finally achieved only after he had met with the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice several times. Swedish Major General Ulf Henricsson, the head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) whom the EU had consulted before the ban, opposed the ban, warning it gave the Sri Lankan government "carte blanche" to seek a military solution. He warned the EU in a memo that a ban would lead to an increase in attacks and violence. He later described the ban as a decision made in the "coffee shops in Brussels" where EU members had failed to read the memo carefully. He further stated that as part of the global war on terror the EU listened to only the Sri Lankan government's version of events and that the government should have also been listed as it "used the same methods".

In October 2014, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) annulled the anti-terrorism sanctions and several other restrictions placed on the LTTE in 2006. The court noted that the basis of proscribing the LTTE had been based on "imputations derived from the press and the Internet" rather than on direct investigation of the group's actions, as required by law. Later, in March 2015, the EU reimposed the sanctions and restrictions. In July 2017, the LTTE was removed from the terrorism blacklist of the EU's top court, stating that there was no evidence to show of LTTE carrying out attacks after its military defeat in 2009. However, despite the ECJ ruling, the EU stated the LTTE remains listed as a terrorist organization by the EU.

On 12 November 2014, the Malaysian government listed the by-then defunct LTTE as a terrorist group amid allegations of its revival attempts in the country. However, responding to the suggestion of the Attorney General (AG) to review the list of gazetted terrorist organizations after the AG dropped charges against 12 alleged LTTE sympathizers, then Minister of Home Affairs Muhyiddin Yassin stated on 22 February 2020 that the LTTE would remain listed as a terrorist organization, claiming its "ideology" posed threat to Malaysia's public order and security. Yassin, a Malay nationalist, has been accused of using the ban to mastermind the "politically motivated" arrests of Indian Tamil members of the Democratic Action Party over alleged LTTE links.

The LTTE leader Prabhakaran contested the terrorist designation of his organization, asserting that the international community had been influenced by the "false propaganda" of the Sri Lankan state and said that there was no coherent definition of the concept of terrorism. He also maintained that the LTTE was a national liberation organization fighting against "state terrorism" and "racist oppression". He urged Western powers engaged in the war on terror to provide "a clear and comprehensive definition of the concept of terrorism that would distinguish between freedom struggles based on the right to self-determination and blind terrorist acts based on fanaticism." He also complained that human rights violators such as Sri Lanka joining the alliance in the war on terror posed threat to "the legitimate political struggles of the oppressed humanity".

Suicide attacks

thumb|[[Kopay memorial for fallen Tamil combatants]]

One of the main divisions of LTTE included the Black Tigers, an elite fighting wing of the movement, whose mission included carrying out suicide attacks against enemy targets.

According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, LTTE was the first insurgent organization to use concealed explosive belts and vests. According to the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence, the LTTE stated that out of the deceased Black Tigers, 274 were male and 104 were female. However, most of the LTTE suicide attacks were carried out against military targets in the north and east of the country; Sometimes civilians were also killed such as in the 1998 attack on Dalada Maligawa killing eight civilians.

The Black Tiger wing also carried out attacks on several high-profile political figures. Three notable attacks includes the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, the former Prime Minister of India, on 21 May 1991, the assassination of Ranasinghe Premadasa, the President of Sri Lanka, on 1 May 1993, and the failed assassination attempt of Chandrika Kumaratunga, the Sri Lankan President, on 18 December 1999, which resulted in the loss of her right eye.

Black Tiger cadres killed in action were highly glorified and their families were given the "Maaveerar family" status, just like normal LTTE cadres. Also, these families were honoured with the "Thamizheezha Maravar pathakkam" (Warrior medal of Tamil Eelam), one of the higher honours of Tamil Eelam. Black Tiger members were given a chance to have his/her last supper with the LTTE leader Prabhakaran, which was a rare honour, motivating LTTE cadres to join the Black Tiger wing.

Assassinations

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|+ Political figures who were considered as assassinated by LTTE (Source: Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence) and the Sri Lankan government has accused the LTTE of assassinating Lakshman Kadirgamar, the former Foreign Minister whom the LTTE considered a "traitor". The assassination of the Sri Lankan president Ranasinghe Premadasa is attributed to LTTE. The seventh Prime Minister of the Republic of India, Rajiv Gandhi, was assassinated by an LTTE suicide bomber Thenmozhi Rajaratnam on 21 May 1991.

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.

Human rights violations

Numerous countries and international organizations have accused the LTTE of attacking civilians and recruiting children.

Attacks on civilians

The LTTE carried out several attacks on civilian targets. The first notable attack to take place outside of its claimed territory was the Anuradhapura massacre in 1985 which the LTTE stated was in retaliation to the Valvettiturai massacre of Tamil civilians. Other notable attacks include the Aranthalawa massacre, Kattankudy mosque massacre, the Kebithigollewa massacre, and the Dehiwala train bombing. Civilians have also been killed in attacks on economic targets, such as the Central Bank bombing. According to Udalagama and de Silva, between 3,700 and 4,100 civilians were killed in "terrorist acts" attributed to the LTTE, a "somewhat modest" proportion of the overall civilian death toll during the war.

The LTTE leader Prabhakaran denied allegations of killing innocent Sinhalese civilians, claiming to condemn such acts of violence. In the case of Sinhalese in colonized areas, he claimed that LTTE had instead attacked armed Home Guards who were "death-squads let loose on Tamil civilians" and Sinhalese settlers who were "brought to the Tamil areas to forcibly occupy the land." The continuous inflow of Sinhalese settlers into Tamil areas since the 1950s, encouraged by the government to undermine claims of a Tamil homeland, had become a source of inter-ethnic violence and had been one of the major grievances expressed by the LTTE. The LTTE also denied massacring Muslims, stating that they were allies against the Sinhalese state. LTTE sympathizers often claim that Karuna, while he was a commander, was solely responsible for many attacks, especially in the Eastern Province.

Child soldiers

The LTTE has been accused of recruiting and using child soldiers to fight against Sri Lankan government forces. The LTTE was accused of having up to 5,794 child soldiers in its ranks since 2001. Amid international pressure, the LTTE announced in July 2003 that it would stop conscripting child soldiers, but UNICEF and Human Rights Watch have accused it of reneging on its promises, and of conscripting Tamil children orphaned by the tsunami. N. Malathy, the former secretary of NESOHR, accused the UNICEF of sensationalizing this issue to fundraise and falsely listing disabled and orphaned children in the LTTE orphanages as child soldiers. On 18 June 2007, the LTTE released 135 children under 18 years of age. UNICEF, along with the United States, stated that there had been a significant drop in LTTE recruitment of children, but claimed in 2007 that 506 child recruits remain under the LTTE. A report released by the LTTE's Child Protection Authority (CPA) in 2008 stated that less than 40 soldiers under age 18 remained in its forces. In 2009 a Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations said the Tamil Tigers "continue to recruit children to fight on the frontlines", and "use force to keep many civilians, including children, in harm's way". During the violent parts of the war, though some children were forcefully recruited, many voluntarily joined the LTTE after witnessing or experiencing abuses by Sri Lankan security forces, seeking to "protect their families or to avenge real or perceived abuses." However, the Sri Lankan government's National Child Protection Authority alleged that since the ceasefire children were more likely to be forcibly recruited. The LTTE argued that instances of child recruitment occurred mostly in the eastern province, under the purview of former LTTE regional commander Colonel Karuna. After leaving the LTTE and forming the TMVP, it is alleged that Karuna continued to forcibly kidnap and induct child soldiers. Soon after Karuna's defection, the LTTE began an intensive campaign to re-recruit Karuna's former cadres, including child soldiers. Many of the former child soldiers were re-recruited by the LTTE, often by force.

Forced displacement

Following the anti-Tamil violence in Trincomalee District in 1985, where security forces and Sinhalese mobs massacred about 200 Tamils and displaced their entire population from the town, the LTTE carried out a series of attacks on Sinhalese in the area forcing thousands to flee in 1986. In October 1987, the LTTE took advantage of communal violence in the Eastern Province, particularly in the Trincomalee District. LTTE gunmen led Tamil rioters and ordered Sinhalese to leave, threatening their lives. By 4 October, 5,000 Sinhalese were made homeless. Following the suicide of 12 LTTE detainees under the Sri Lankan Army custody, LTTE massacred Sinhalese civilians throughout the Eastern Province. By the end of the week, about 200 Sinhalese were dead and 20,000 had fled the Eastern Province.

Sri Lankan Moors (or Muslims) were also evicted in the north in 1990, and the east in 1992. Yogi, the LTTE's political spokesman, stated that this expulsion was carried out in retaliation for the atrocities committed against Tamils in the Eastern Province by Muslims, who were seen by the LTTE as collaborators with the Sri Lankan Army. Sri Lankan Defence Ministry, Human Rights Watch, among others, have described the forcible removal of Sinhalese and Muslim inhabitants from areas under its control as "ethnic cleansing".

During the peace talks in 2002, the LTTE formally apologised to the Muslims for the expulsion and invited them back, stating that the north-east also belonged to them. In 2003, the LTTE formally recognised the rights of the Muslim and Sinhalese communities to be present in the north-east in their ISGA proposals.

Mistreatment of prisoners

Executions

The LTTE executed prisoners of war on a number of occasions despite its declaration in 1988 that it would abide by the Geneva Conventions. One such incident was the mass murder of 600 unarmed Sri Lankan Police officers in 1990, in Eastern Province, after they surrendered to the LTTE on the request of President Ranasinghe Premadasa. In 1993, LTTE killed 200 Sri Lanka Army soldiers, captured in the naval base at Pooneryn, during the Battle of Pooneryn. Few months earlier they had executed an officer and several soldiers captured during the Battle of Janakapura. In 1996, LTTE executed 207 military officers and soldiers who had surrendered to the LTTE during Battle of Mullaitivu (1996). The LTTE has also been accused of executing civilian Tamils accused of dissent. Rajan Hoole of UTHR(J) claims that various dissident sources allege that the number of Tamil dissenters and prisoners from rival armed groups clandestinely killed by the LTTE in detention or otherwise ranges from 8,000 - 20,000, although he later stated that western agencies dismissed his figures as exaggeration.

Torture

The LTTE tortured suspects based on the victim's refusal to co-operate and for giving information to the Sri Lankan army or IPKF. Torture was also practised on child soldiers who attempted to flee military service such as by being left out in the sun. Sri Lankan soldiers and police officers taken as prisoners were also tortured by the LTTE during interrogations. LTTE prison conditions were often poor and many prisoners died due to infections from their wounds. Among the methods of torture included burning with heated metal, hanging the victim upside down and beating them, slashing with razors and electroshocking.

A panel of experts appointed by UN Secretary-General (UNSG) Ban Ki-moon to advise him on the issue of accountability with regard to any alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law during the final stages of the civil war found "credible allegations" which, if proven, indicated that war crimes and crimes against humanity were committed by the Sri Lankan military and the LTTE. The panel has called on the UNSG to conduct an independent international inquiry into the alleged violations of international law.

Notes

References

External links

LTTE web sites

Tamilnet Pro Rebel Website
Tamil Eelam News Tamil Eelam news site

Sri Lanka Government

Humanitarian Operation – Factual Analysis, July 2006 – May 2009 A report on strength and impact of LTTE from Sri Lanka Ministry of Defence
Humanitarian Operation timeline, 1981–2009 The history of Sri Lankan armed forces operations and area controlled by LTTE
Sri Lanka Ministry of Defence LTTE in Brief An overview of LTTE by Sri Lanka Ministry of Defence

International organisations

An analysis of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam organization and operations by Federation of American Scientists
Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora After LTTE Relationship between LTTE and the Tamil diaspora, and consequences of LTTE defeat, by International Crisis Group
Background information on the Tamil Tigers by Council on Foreign Relations
Overview of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam by Anti-Defamation League
Funding the "Final War" A Human Rights Watch report on LTTE's fund raising strategies
Trapped and Mistreated Human rights violations of LTTE, a Human Rights Watch report

International press

"Sri Lankan Civilians Trapped by Tamil Tigers 'Last Stand —Article in The Christian Science Monitor, 3 May 2009
"Guerrilla Tactics – How the Tamil Tigers Were Beaten in an 'Unwinnable' War" —Article in The Times, 19 May 2009
"Rise and Fall of the LTTE – An Overview" —A Sri Lanka Guardian article on characteristics of LTTE