MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
17 November 2003
pursuant to Rule 50 of the Rules of Procedure
by Jean Lambert and Rheinhold Messner
on behalf of the Green/EFA Group
on the peace process in Sri Lanka
B5-505/2003
European parliament resolution on Sri Lanka
The European parliament,
A. Whereas an agreement on an indefinite cease-fire between the Government under Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) went into force on 24 February, brokered by the Norwegian government
B. whereas this cease-fire agreement has held now for 21 months, longer then any attempt before, and gives great hope to bring to an end the 20 year long civil war in Sri Lanka which caused the death of over 60 000 people and impeded the development chances of the country
C. whereas the LTTE published at the beginning of November for the fist time proposals of an interim settlement, demanding a five year period of self-governance in the part of Sri Lanka where there is a majority of ethnic Tamils, thereby demonstrating their wish to return to the negotiation table after six month of withdrawal
D. whereas Prime Minister Wickremesinghe while refuting its content accepted the LTTE proposal as a basis for discussion
E. Whereas the Norwegian Peace negotiator Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen returned to Sri Lanka in hopes of setting the stage for new talks on resolving the conflict
F. whereas on November 4, in absence of Prime Minister Wickremesinghe who was on a visit to the United States, President Kumaratunga dismissed the three senior ministers for defence, the interior and information, suspended Parliament and imposed for a brief period a state of emergency
G. Whereas President Kumaratunga motivated her move with dissatisfaction over the peace negotiations, reproaching the Prime Minister to have made too many concessions to the LTTE, underlining however that she was willing abide by the truce agreement
H. whereas the President took advantage of the powers installed on her by the Executive Presidency - a system she had vowed to scrap through a new constitution on winning her first elections in 1994
I. Whereas Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe declared that he could no longer direct the peace negotiations without having control over the Ministry of Defence and whereas the Norwegian chief peace negotiator suspended his settlement efforts
J. Whereas President Kumaratunga has repeatedly criticised the peace efforts of the Norwegian government despite the fact that she herself was at the origin of the negotiation initiative and of the invitation to the Scandinavian truce monitors, ordering military chiefs in October not to accept instructions from them
K. Whereas prior to November 4 the dividend of 21 months of peace was already palpable for Sri Lanka's citizens in their every day life as well as for its economy as a whole with the Colombo Stock Exchange at a nine-year high and the country's GDP at a 5.6% growth rate versus 1,5% in 2001
L. whereas expectations remain high that the end to military conflict could improve the problematic human rights situation in Sri Lanka which was documented again in the fourth periodic report on Sri Lanka by the UN Commission on Human Rights as adopted this month
1. Reconfirms its strong support for the cease-fire agreement between the Government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and the LTTE and is extremely alarmed about the recent deterioration of the situation
2. Calls on President Kumaratunga to honour her declared attachment to the peace process and to subordinate the struggle of competence with Prime Minister Wickremesinghe to the higher interest of a peaceful and prosperous future for Sri Lanka's citizens
3. Strongly urges the Prime Minister and the President to continue cooperation, calls on all the political leaders of the United National Party as of the People's Alliance and other interest groups in Sri Lanka to seize this historical chance and to actively support the peace negotiations, welcomes in this context the declaration of the LTTE to respect the truce agreement
4. Reiterates its support for the Norwegian Government's brokering efforts and welcomes that the 56 member strong monitoring mission has announced the continuation of its work despite recent set backs
5. Underlines that the pledges of 4,5 billion dollars in reconstruction aid for Sri Lanka by the international donor conference in May of this year are linked to the successful completion of the peace process
6. Calls on the Lanka government to reinforce fundamental human rights such as safeguarding women's rights, the appointment of an independent commission to solve the problems of the internally displaced, and de-politicising the armed forces,
7. Calls on the government to address the issue of impunity for members of the security forces, to take action on the longstanding problem of disappearances and to review the Prevention of Terrorism Act
8. Calls on the Commission and the EU Member States to bring all their influence to bear in order to convince the conflicting government parties to return to the negotiating table.
9. Instructs its President to forward the present resolution to the Council the Commission, the President, the Prime Minister, the LTTE, as well as the Parliament of Sri Lanka, the Norwegian Government and the UN Human Rights Commission.