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Peace Declaration
Please find below a Peace Declaration developed by the people of Sri Lanka
articulating their support for genuine, long term peace.
Initiated by MONLAR, the Peace Declaration was collectively formulated by political
groups, peace organizations, human rights groups, trade unions, women's organizations
and clergy in Sri Lanka. This diverse group met four times in order to develop
the declaration, once prior to the December 2001 elections, once immediately
after the elections and twice in January 2002.
The Peace Declaration possesses broad based support in Sri Lanka with the organizations
involved in preparing the document together representing thousands of people.
In the short time since the document has been developed, other organizations
representing hundreds and sometimes thousands of people have begun to enthusiastically
pledge their support for the
declaration. Further people are currently being mobilized to support the peace
declaration.
This document will be delivered to the Sri Lankan government, international
governments as well as the World Bank. We aim to present the document to foreign
diplomats in Sri Lanka with emphasis given to the Norwegian diplomat given their
involvement in the current peace negotiations.
We would like to request that you distribute this document as widely as possible
throughout your networks and urge your members and supporters to take up the
issue by writing to the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE stating our concerns
as outlined in the attached declaration. Contact details are as follows:
President
Her Excellency Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge
Presidential Secretariat
Secretariat Building,
Colombo 01.
Gen. No. : 324801/4 , 448701/2 ,327877
Prime Minister
Hon. Ranil Wickramasinghe, Prime Minister, Democratic Socialist Republic of
Sri Lanka
Prime Minister's Office, 58,Sir Ernest de Silva Mawathe, Colombo 7
Tel: 575317-8 Fax: 575454 E-mail: sec@slt.lk
LTTE
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
P.O Box 47, 7600 STRUER
DENMARK
TEL / FAX: 97-841231
It is crucial that as much pressure as possible is placed on all international
actors immediately in order to influence the current peace negotiations. The
voice of the majority of Sri Lankan's must be placed at the forefront of these
negotiations in order to ensure that genuine, long lasting peace is achieved
in Sri Lanka.
Best wishes
Toni Palombi [Top]
In December 2001, at the General Elections in Sri Lanka, the people once more
emphatically and resolutely declared "we do not want war - we want peace".
A majority of the people in Sri Lanka have given their support to the decision
that steps should be taken immediately stop the war through a political settlement
that fulfills the aspirations of Tamil and Muslim
communities.
The militarist's notion to 'strengthen the war and defeat the LTTE and then
establish peace' has clearly been rejected. Thus the Sri Lankan Government has
received a very clear mandate to determine an appropriate course of action for
peace by all people irrespective of their race, ethnicity or geographical location.
As a result of the very clear political debate that took place during the last
election campaign on this issue, it is obvious to all citizens that the government
must immediately implement the necessary measures required to reach a negotiated
political settlement and to cease the war without further delay, as promised.
Similar to the recent elections, the 1994 elections saw the people of Sri Lanka
strongly support the People's Alliance Party's (PA) proposal to opt for a political
solution through a similar process of negotiated settlement. Accordingly, the
PA and the President have no reason to object to the current peace initiative.
It is encouraging to witness the present government working towards attaining
peace in Sri Lanka. However, it should be noted that there is a potential
danger for the peace process to be reversed and for the war to resume once again.
Historically, Sri Lanka's political party's have made numerous promises in relation
to bringing about peace during election campaigns, only to break such promises
once they are elected.
With the verdict of the people so clearly articulated on the issue of peace,
it is crucial that the position of a small minority of war inclined racist groups
should not be interpreted to represent the voice of the Sinhala people.
The deepest aspirations of all people, including the Tamil and Muslim ethnic
communities is to end the war throughout the country and for peace to be established.
These communities should have the freedom to govern the areas where they live.
The specific aspiration of the Tamil people for peace with dignity and justice
with due respect and protection given to
their ethnic and national identity is now being understood and accepted increasingly
by the Sinhala people.
Hence, this is an ideal time to form the urgently needed alliance among all
communities in Sri Lanka who suffer as a result of the war. The formation of
such an alliance is crucial to ensure genuine peace and justice is achieved
for all people in Sri Lanka.
The business communities in Sri Lanka together with the World Bank, eager to
see the civil conflict come to an end, have sponsored the peace initiative,
exercising further pressure on the Sri Lankan government to end the war. Any
government in power will have to take these pressures seriously for obvious
reasons. Both the business community and the World
Bank state that their effort in the area of peace is directed at reviving the
country's crumbling economy. Hence, their primary concern for tackling the peace
process could very well be to ensure their businesses continue to prosper and
do not suffer as a result of the conflict.
Despite the motivations of the World Bank or the business community, we support
their efforts towards bringing an end to the war.
It is our contention that neither the UNP, PA, the business community, the World
Bank or similar global powers who are acting in cohesion to subject the country
the global capitalism, can effectively end the war and bring about peace as
they are incapable of assembling the necessary support from the majority of
people in Sri Lanka.
Despite the people of Sri Lanka agreeing on the issue of peace, there is much
opposition in relation to the additional plans devised and encouraged by the
World Bank and the business community. This is largely because their
development strategies have worked against the rights and welfare of the people.
Further they have consistently subjected the entire country to the destructive
process of global capital.
Regardless of the obvious failure of World Bank development strategies over
the past two and a half decades, the institution is continuing to pressure the
Sri Lankan government to implement their inappropriate development strategies.
Advocating similar strategies to those of the World Bank and the IMF, the business
community in Sri Lanka, prepared a development plan
titled 'A Vision for Sri Lanka in year 2020', which was delivered to the new
government as soon as they assumed leadership in December 2001. This document
contains proposals which include removing existing workers rights by changing
labor legislation; selling away common resources like water, aquatic, marine,
forests and wildlife resources; facilitating and expediting the removal of small
farmers from their land and agricultural livelihoods; expanding export crops
for international trade in place of the needed expansion of low cost sustainable
methods of domestic food production; increasing the economic burden and political
oppression of the poor masses in order to further expand infrastructure facilities
(such as the super highways, the proposed mega city in Hambantota in the south
and the proposed five economic zones); as well as strengthening the power of
the private sector and foreign investors to plunder medicinal plants, indigenous
knowledge, genetic resources and mineral resources that sustain life.
People have a legitimate right to oppose plans such as those discussed above,
as for true peace and democracy to exist in Sri Lanka, communities must oppose
the detrimental development strategies which are engineered by these actors.
Opposition against the destructive nature of international forces intent on
annihilating community's rights, must not be considered as opposition to peace.
Genuine, long lasting peace can only be realized if the fundamental principles
for peace are based on justice rather than on short term commercial objectives
of the business community.
It is vital that all peace groups recognize that genuine long term peace can
only be made a reality through the mobilization of civil society at large. Moreover,
people who consider themselves peacemakers must be engaged in the struggle to
resist all power structures which violate their basic human rights including
international institutions such as the World Bank.
It is reasonable to expect that people will not have trust and confidence in
any group as agents of genuine peace, unless they are engaged in resisting the
forces that oppress people in whatever form. This mistrust is not because people
are against peace or are racist. It is because people make a distinction between
establishing a long lasting just peace and in ending the war with the aim of
increasing the profits of the private sector.
The current view that bringing an end to the war and violence and subsequent
establishment of democracy requires the two major parties to form a national
alliance needs careful critical examination and clarification.
Prior and subsequent to the 2001 election, substantial pressure was placed on
the two parties by the World Bank and the IMF to form such an alliance.
If the purpose of such a proposal is to attain a political solution for the
ethnic issue (other than war) and bring an end to the civil conflict, then the
move is highly commendable and worthy of support. Conversely, if this initiative
is intended to strengthen and perpetuate the war, it will be strongly and unequivocally
contested by the majority of people in Sri Lanka.
It is our belief that the formation of a national government will give rise
to the suppression of people's rights for peace, democracy and freedom as the
coalition will favor the World Bank and the powers which promote and advocate
global capitalist expansion. Thus, it is a matter of paramount importance that
Sri Lankan's campaign vehemently against proposals which have a detrimental
affect on their freedom, democracy and right for peace.
It is questionable whether this alliance is one which is intent on promoting
peace and democracy for all people given the plans of this coalition as discussed
above.
A very real danger exists for further severe conflict to take place in Sri Lanka
causing mass and irreversible political and social destruction. Consequently
there is an urgent need to develop a common and holistic strategy to challenge
the war that has been raging for over two decades, the marginalization of ethnic
groups as well as global capitalism and its
destructive proposals for Sri Lanka.
It is in this light that we propose for a Joint People's Action for Peace Against
the War, Racism and Global Capitalism be created to undertake the following
tasks essential for genuine long term peace to be realized in Sri Lanka:
Formation of the broadest possible alliance comprising of all ethnic communities
to work towards finding a solution to the ethnic issue in order for peace to
be attained and to avoid the possibility of adopting a war/military approach
to peace.
Prevent the narrow interpretation of Sinhala rights held by a small minority
of racist groups to come to the forefront, hindering the peace process, in the
name of protecting Sinhala heritage and security.
Contest the intentions of establishing a powerful dictatorship through the merger
of the two largest political parties supported by the private sector, World
Bank and the IMF. In spite of its façade of " a unity of political parties
for peace", the implementation of their joint economic proposals in Sri
Lanka will essentially deprive people of their basic human rights.
It is essential that a broad based people's alliance of this kind be mobilized
immediately, advocating an alternative development path, in order to safeguard
the rights of the poor and defend peace and democracy.
The USA is said to have declared a world wide war on terrorism and together
with Britain, Canada, Australia, India, Pakistan and Russia, has introduced
stringent laws to combat terrorism. Accordingly, these respective countries
now have the ability to label groups engaged in work adverse to their interests,
as being involved in terrorism.
More recently, the purpose of these plans have become unmistakably clear.The
USA wants to establish a very strong presence in the region, obtain control
of the oil resources of the Caspian Zone around Afghanistan, as well as obliterate
the growing world wide opposition to globalization and capitalism.
On account of the LTTE also being banned in a number of the aforementioned countries,
some groups have placed confidence in the so called USA led attack on terrorism,
to defeat the LTTE. The USA has quite obviously in the past promoted terrorism
when it has served its national and capitalist interests. For instance, the
Taliban was built up and supported by the USA
as part of their strategy to defend global capitalism. What is needed today,
is not to invite forces of global terrorism into our country, but to resist
such forces of terrorism through the formation of an alliance incessantly struggling
to protect people's interest against the world wide terror of global capital
and to ensure that peace and democracy is enjoyed by all in Sri Lanka.
Peace Declaration Endorsed by:
Ven Keeranthidie Pagnasekara Thero
Revd. Sr. Helen Fernando, Holy Family Convent
Rev. Fr. Sarath Iddamalgoda
Rev. Fr. Nandana Manathunga
Revd. M Sathivel
Rev. Fr. Reid Shelton Fernando
Revd. Satyavel
Community Education Centre, Malabe
Movement Organization for National Land and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR)
Kantha Shakthi
Janavabodhaya
S G Punchi Heva, Attorney at Law
Kamkara Sevena, Ekala
SETIK
Women's Development Foundation
Independent Cooperators Collective
Movement for Defence of Democratic Rights
NAFSO - National Fisheries Solidarity
Mr Charles Dayananda
Sadhu Jana Rava (Jayatilika Bandara)
SAVISTHRI - Women for Alternative Development
Shramabimani
United Federation of Labor
NIVEKA Workers Union
Ms Indumathi Gunawardhana
Mr Gamini Ranasinhe
Mr U L A Joseph - Human Rights Committee Gampaha District
Prof. H Shriyananda
Upali Lewliyadda, Niveka Workers Union
Democratic Left Front
Free Trade Zone Workers Union
Devasarana
Nandana Marasinghe Memorial Foundation
Ihala Uva Agrarian Farmers Union
Diyesa
Aranchi News Network
These organizations represent thousands of people from diverse communities
in Sri Lanka. Further organizations and individuals are currently being
mobilized to support the peace declaration.[Top]
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