FATF Public Statement

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is the global standard setting body for anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT). In order to protect the international financial system from ML/FT risks and to encourage greater compliance with the AML/CFT standards, the FATF identified jurisdictions that have strategic deficiencies and works with them to address those deficiencies that pose a risk to the international financial system.

Jurisdictions subject to a FATF call on its members and other jurisdictions to apply counter-measures to protect the international financial system from the on-going and substantial money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF) risks emanating from the jurisdictions*.

Iran

Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)

Jurisdictions with strategic AML/CFT deficiencies that have not made sufficient progress in addressing the deficiencies or have not committed to an action plan developed with the FATF to address the deficiencies** The FATF calls on its members to consider the risks arising from the deficiencies associated with each jurisdiction, as described below.

Bolivia
Cuba**
Ethiopia
Kenya
Myanmar
Sri Lanka
Syria
Turkey


* The FATF has previously issued public statements calling for counter-measures on Iran and DPRK. Those statements are updated below.
**Cuba has not engaged with the FATF in the process.


Iran

The FATF remains concerned by Iran’s failure to meaningfully address the on-going and substantial deficiencies in its anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime. The FATF remains particularly concerned about Iran’s failure to address the risk of terrorist financing and the serious threat this poses to the integrity of the international financial system. The FATF urges Iran to immediately and meaningfully address its AML/CFT deficiencies, in particular by criminalising terrorist financing and effectively implementing suspicious transaction reporting (STR) requirements.

The FATF reaffirms its call on members and urges all jurisdictions to advise their financial institutions to give special attention to business relationships and transactions with Iran, including Iranian companies and financial institutions. In addition to enhanced scrutiny, the FATF reaffirms its 25 February 2009 call on its members and urges all jurisdictions to apply effective counter-measures to protect their financial sectors from money laundering and financing of terrorism (ML/FT) risks emanating from Iran. FATF continues to urge jurisdictions to protect against correspondent relationships being used to bypass or evade counter-measures and risk mitigation practices and to take into account ML/FT risks when considering requests by Iranian financial institutions to open branches and subsidiaries in their jurisdiction. If Iran fails to take concrete steps to improve its AML/CFT regime, the FATF will consider calling on its members and urging all jurisdictions to strengthen counter-measures in October 2011.

Cuba

Cuba has not committed to the AML/CFT international standards, nor has it constructively engaged with the FATF. The FATF has identified Cuba as having strategic AML/CFT deficiencies that pose a risk to the international financial system. The FATF urges Cuba to develop an AML/CFT regime in line with international standards, and is ready to work with the Cuban authorities to this end.

Bolivia

Despite Bolivia’s high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and GAFISUD to address its strategic AML/CFT deficiencies, Bolivia has not made sufficient progress in implementing its action plan, and certain strategic AML/CFT deficiencies remain. Bolivia should work on addressing these deficiencies including by: (1) ensuring adequate criminalisation of money laundering (Recommendation 1); (2) adequately criminalising terrorist financing (Special Recommendation II); (3) establishing and implementing an adequate legal framework for identifying and freezing terrorist assets (Special Recommendation III); and (4) establishing a fully operational and effective Financial Intelligence Unit (Recommendation 26). The FATF encourages Bolivia to address its remaining deficiencies and continue the process of implementing its action plan, including by continuing to work on its AML/CFT legislation.

Ethiopia

Despite Ethiopia’s high-level political commitment to work with the FATF to address its strategic AML/CFT deficiencies, Ethiopia has not made sufficient progress in implementing its action plan, and certain strategic AML/CFT deficiencies remain. Ethiopia should work on addressing these deficiencies, including by: (1) adequately criminalising money laundering and terrorist financing (Recommendation 1 and Special Recommendation II); (2) establishing and implementing an adequate legal framework and procedures to identify and freeze terrorist assets (Special Recommendation III); (3) ensuring a fully operational and effectively functioning Financial Intelligence Unit (Recommendation 26); (4) raising awareness of AML/CFT issues within the law enforcement community (Recommendation 27); and (5) implementing effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions in order to deal with natural or legal persons that do not comply with the national AML/CFT requirements (Recommendation 17). The FATF encourages Ethiopia to address its remaining deficiencies and continue the process of implementing its action plan.

Kenya

Despite Kenya’s high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and ESAAMLG to address its strategic AML/CFT deficiencies, Kenya has not made sufficient progress in implementing its action plan, and certain strategic AML/CFT deficiencies remain. Kenya should work on addressing these deficiencies, including by: (1) adequately criminalising terrorist financing (Special Recommendation II); (2) ensuring a fully operational and effectively functioning Financial Intelligence Unit (Recommendation 26); (3) establishing and implementing an adequate legal framework for identifying and freezing terrorist assets (Special Recommendation III); (4) raising awareness of AML/CFT issues within the law enforcement community (Recommendation 27); and (5) implementing effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions in order to deal with natural or legal persons that do not comply with the national AML/CFT requirements (Recommendation 17). The FATF encourages Kenya to address its remaining deficiencies and continue the process of implementing its action plan, including by implementing the AML legislation and operationalising the new AML Advisory Board.

Myanmar

Myanmar has taken steps towards improving its AML/CFT regime, including by clarifying the scope of the ML offence. Despite Myanmar’s high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and APG to address its strategic AML/CFT deficiencies, Myanmar has not made sufficient progress in implementing its action plan, and certain strategic AML/CFT deficiencies remain. Myanmar should work on addressing these deficiencies, including by: (1) adequately criminalising terrorist financing (Special Recommendation II); (2) establishing and implementing adequate procedures to identify and freeze terrorist assets (Special Recommendation III); (3) further strengthening the extradition framework in relation to terrorist financing (Recommendation 35 and Special Recommendation I); (4) ensuring a fully operational and effectively functioning Financial Intelligence Unit (Recommendation 26); (5) enhancing financial transparency (Recommendation 4); and (6) strengthening customer due diligence measures (Recommendation 5). The FATF encourages Myanmar to address its remaining deficiencies and continue the process of implementing its action plan.

Sri Lanka

Despite Sri Lanka’s high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and APG to address its strategic AML/CFT deficiencies, Sri Lanka has not made sufficient progress in implementing its action plan, and certain strategic AML/CFT deficiencies remain. Sri Lanka should work on addressing these deficiencies, including by: (1) adequately criminalising money laundering and terrorist financing (Recommendation 1 and Special Recommendation II); and (2) establishing and implementing adequate procedures to identify and freeze terrorist assets (Special Recommendation III). The FATF encourages Sri Lanka to address its remaining deficiencies and continue the process of implementing its action plan, including by continuing to work on its AML/CFT legislation.

Syria

Syria has taken steps towards improving its AML/CFT regime, including by improving the ML and TF offences. Despite Syria’s high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and MENAFATF to address its strategic AML/CFT deficiencies, Syria has not made sufficient progress in implementing its action plan, and certain strategic AML/CFT deficiencies remain Syria should work on addressing its deficiencies, including by: (1) adopting adequate measures to implement and enforce the 1999 International Convention for the Suppression of Financing of Terrorism (Special Recommendation I); (2) implementing adequate procedures for identifying and freezing terrorist assets (Special Recommendation III); (3) ensuring financial institutions are aware of and comply with their obligations to file suspicious transaction reports in relation to ML and FT (Recommendation 13 and Special Recommendation IV); and (4) ensuring appropriate laws and procedures are in place to provide mutual legal assistance (Recommendations 36-38, Special Recommendation V). The FATF encourages Syria to address its remaining deficiencies and continue the process of implementing its action plan.

Turkey

Turkey has taken steps towards improving its AML/CFT regime, including by working on CFT legislation. Despite Turkey’s high-level political commitment to work with the FATF to address its strategic AML/CFT deficiencies, Turkey has not made sufficient progress in implementing its action plan, and certain strategic AML/CFT deficiencies remain. Turkey should work on addressing these deficiencies, including by: (1) adequately criminalising terrorist financing (Special Recommendation II); and (2) implementing an adequate legal framework for identifying and freezing terrorist assets (Special Recommendation III). The FATF encourages Turkey to address its remaining deficiencies and continue the process of implementing its action plan.

Source: FATF

BIMSTEC agree on convention against terror

India and six other members of a grouping of South Asia and South East Asia today agreed to firm up by November a convention to deal collectively with terrorism which is haunting these two regions.

Under the proposed convention, the member-countries of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) would cooperate in intelligence sharing, legal and law enforcement issues, combating financing of terrorism and prevention of illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursor chemicals.

"We expressed the hope that the draft BIMSTEC Convention be finalised as soon as possible for signing during the next BIMSTEC Summit," said the grouping which comprises India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan and Thailand in a joint statement issued after Foreign Ministerial meeting here.

The next Summit is expected to be held here in November this year.

In the field of trade and investment, the grouping resolved to conclude the negotiations on trade in goods under the proposed FTA at an early date, preferably before the next BIMSTEC Summit.

The Ministerial meeting also approved memoranda of association for setting centres for energy, weather and climate in India, tourism working group and BIMSTEC joint working group. PTI

Source: The Press Trust of India

Sri Lanka: International Conference on Countering Terrorism

Sri Lanka: International Conference on Countering Terrorism draws international terrorism experts to Colombo

20th October 2007

The three-day International Conference on Countering Terrorism is now on in Colombo on the theme 'Terrorism: A Challenge to Democratically Elected Governments.' The Conference, brought together renowned terrorism experts, including from the academia and the media, from 23 countries including Australia, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, the United States and Vietnam. It was also widely attended by the Diplomatic Community .

Delivering the Inaugural Address, Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama, highlighted that "Sri Lanka had been a foot soldier in the battle against terrorism over a long period of time and notwithstanding some impediments and setbacks, can in several aspects count itself as having been a success story in the battle against terrorism." Sri Lanka's refusal to compromise or condone terrorism while constantly seeking to resolve the conflict through political means, to persuade other states to proscribe the LTTE, prevent money flows and apprehend those conniving with terrorists, has been significant. Successive governments and the people of Sri Lanka have also shown considerable resilience in the face of terror, whilst also ensuring that economic growth was not compromised. The Minister hoped that the deliberations of this Conference would, among other matters focus on the need for states to go beyond merely adopting conventions, to convert these into tangible action by developing enabling legislation and taking concrete action against those including terrorist front organizations operating from their soil. Noting that a bulk of maritime traffic passes through the Indian Ocean region and that in recent times many acts of terrorism had taken place in these waters, the Minister emphasized the urgent necessity to develop robust modalities to arrest the growing threat that faces Indian Ocean states from terrorists.

The former Director of the European Center for the Study of Conflicts in France, and one of the earliest writers in the field of terrorism, Dr. Gerard Chaliand traced the evolution of terrorism over the years. Referring to the LTTE, he said "the independence they ask cannot be granted and should not be granted, not only because no State is willing to accept such a blow to its sovereignity but also because, like the Shining Path or the Khmer Rouges, the LTTE under the leadership of V. Prabhakaran is a totalitarian movement, which has transformed its groups into a killing machine." He said "the most important thing about the LTTE is that it is a totalitarian movement fighting in a country which is democratic." He said the "LTTE has brutally eliminated all other parties or groups willing to represent the Tamils". "An absolutely intolerant sect, no peace seems possible with V. Prabhakaran as we have seen from the peace process of 2002-2005, which was but a tactical truce", Dr. Chaliand added.

Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Palitha Kohona delivering the vote-of-thanks repeated the unprecedented challenge Sri Lanka faces in combating terrorism and Sri Lanka. He said the world had focused on international terrorism only after 9/11 but terrorism had affected countries long before then. He emphasized that "the international rule of law against terrorism is being strong themed each year," adding that "there are 13 UN Conventions addressing different dimensions of the global terrorist threat and a comprehensive convention is being negotiated." The Foreign Secretary pointed out that "terrorism will never be eradicated solely by cooperation among law enforcement officials. It requires a concerted political effort and policy coordination among countries. Further it also requires an ability to understand and minimize the motivation and impetus that inspire terrorist acts."

Renowned Chairman of the French Anti-Terrorist Judges, Judge Jean Louis Bruguiere, who was the Guest of Honour of the Conference, and addressing the first panel of the day focused on the international responses to terrorism, traced the manner in which international efforts at responding to terrorism have evolved over the years, stating that if the fight against terrorism is an inescapable requirement, "we owe it to ourselves to reinforce our international cooperation at every level, notably by adopting multilateral or bilateral conventions in the field of judicial cooperation as well as extradition." He said the French Government considers "that an organization like the LTTE is a terrorist organization like any other and that its activities even in the area of logistics, have to be repressed with the same vigour as for terrorist networks operating on our [French] soil and threatening us directly" and that on this basis "that in April this year the French Government had dismantled a vast network of Tamil militants who actively supported the LTTE, notably at the financial level."

This session, which was chaired by the Dean of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Colombo, Prof. Amal Jayawardena,while the discussants were the Executive Director of the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies, Dr. Rifaat Hussain and the Senior Terrorism Prevention Officer of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna, Dr. Ms. Irka Kuleshnyk.

Addressing the panel on regional responses to terrorism, former Commander of the Indian Army, Gen. V. P. Malik emphasized the need to combat and defeat terrorism in all its manifestations. He said "terrorist activities anywhere will stop only when their fuel runs out." Gen. Malik who traced the important steps taken to counter terrorism in South Asia, emphasized the need for a regional strategy and cooperation, but essentially local operatives and doctrines.

Former Secretary General of SAARC, Ambassador Nihal Rodrigo, chaired this session, while the discussants comprised the Associate Research Fellow of the China Institute of International Studies, Prof. Zhang Lijun, the Deputy Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Mr. Vladimir Titokerni as well as the Pro-Chancellor and Director of the School of Science and Forensic Science, National Law University Rajastan, India, Prof. P. Chandra Sekharan.

The third thematic session focused on the domestic dimensions of terrorism where the head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research in Singapore, Dr. Rohan Gunaratna, who was the principal speaker, who joining the deliberations on a video link, highlighted the recent successes of the security forces in combating LTTE terrorism. He noted that within the year the Sri Lanka Navy destroyed eight merchant vessels. In order to defeat the LTTE, Dr. Gunaratna articulated the need for strengthening and building capacity in the intelligence field, with a high degree of professionalism, and also stressed the necessity for special forces and elite units that could target the leadership of the LTTE.

Former Inspector General of Police, Mr. Chandra Fernando chaired the discussion at which intervention were made by Deputy Solicitor General, Mr. Dappula de Livera and Prof. Karunaratne Hangawatte of the University of Nevada.

The final panel discussion of the day focused of the critical area of combating terrorist financing, where the Founder and CEO of World-Check, Mr. David Leppan spoke extensively on the manner in which terror groups collect funds and their illegal activities.

Researcher of the Centre for Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism of the Macquarie University of Australia, Mr. Shanaka Jayasekera the co-speaker at this session noted that the LTTE's supply chain capability has been significantly disrupted, estimated at between 65% to 70%. This would result in the need for the LTTE to aggressively campaign for fund raising activities in the 12 top level resource mobilization countries. In order to maintain the advantage the Government has achieved, it is imperative that the fund-raising be curbed with international cooperation in the next few months. Therefore it is suggested that a contact group be established as a prelude to the commencement of a political process."

The Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, Dr. Ms. Ranee Jayamaha chaired the sessions, at which the discussants were Mrs. Joan De Zilva Moonesinghe formerly of the Financial Investigation Unit and the Advisor of the Financial Investigation Unit of the Central Bank, Mr. Eric Stonecipher.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Colombo

20 October 2007

Global action on counterung terror: Sri Lanka’s perspective

Excerpts from the speech by Rohitha Bogollagama, Minister of Foreign Affairs at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Canberra last week

Since 1963, the international community has elaborated 13 universal legal instruments to prevent terrorist acts. Those instruments were developed under the auspices of the United Nations and its specialised agencies and the international Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and are open to participation by all Member States.

Currently, UN Member States are negotiating a 14th international treaty, a draft comprehensive convention on international terrorism. This convention would complement the existing framework of international anti-terrorism instruments and would build on key guiding principles already present in recent anti-terrorist conventions: the importance of criminalisation of terrorist offences, making them punishable by law and calling for prosecution or extradition of the perpetrators; the need to eliminate legislation which establishes exceptions to such criminalization on political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or similar grounds; a strong call for Member States to take action to prevent terrorist acts; and emphasis on the need for Member States to cooperate, exchange information and provide each other with the greater measurer of assistance in connection with the prevention, investigation and prosecution of terrorist acts.

The Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 08 September 2006, highlighted the importance of Member States becoming parties to existing international counter-terrorism instruments and implementing their provisions without delay. This was first time that countries around the world agreed on a common strategic approach to combat terrorism.

Terrorism is, sadly, no stranger to Sri Lanka. We, in Sri Lanka, know terrorism, unfortunately, only too well. It is regrettably an everyday reality confronting us, even as we try to commute to our work places and attend to our daily chores.

We know at first hand the horrific consequences of the brutality of terrorism; the carnage, the shock and horror, the thousands of unsuspecting lives lost or maimed in the flash of a bomb explosion, the thousands of families left bereaved, the countless personal tragedies that terrorism leaves in its wake. The debilitating effects of terrorism on the psyche of the nation have been such that an entire generation has been born and raised in Sri Lanka under the dark clouds of this scourge.

Sri Lanka is a State party to 12 international conventions relating to terrorism. The most recent instrument that we ratified was the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, which was negotiated and concluded in April 2005 by the UN Ad Hoc Committee on Terrorism, under the Chair of Sri Lanka. Currently, a Bill to give effect to this Convention has been gazetted and will be presented to Parliament shortly for adoption into domestic law.

At the regional level too, Sri Lanka has played a pro-active role in galvanizing support for collective action in combating terrorism. At the recently concluded 15th SAARC Summit in Colombo, leaders of the assembled eight member states gave their blessings to the SAARC Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, which was signed by the Foreign Ministers.

Among the key weapons in the armoury of the international community to fight terrorism is the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, which entered into force on 10 April 2002, following its adoption by the UN General Assembly in December 1999.

The speed with which member states ratified this Convention, illustrated the commitment of the international community to combat terrorism, especially in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the US in September 2001.

In response to those attacks, the UN Security Council acting under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, adopted Resolution 1373 on 28 September 2001, which inter aliacalled upon States to “become parties as soon as possible to the relevant international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism, including the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism of 09 December 1999”.

Increasingly, international terrorist activity has become interlinked with other modern scourges, such as drug trafficking and the proliferation of small arms. This Convention recognizes that financing is at the heart of terrorist activity, and it paves the way for concerted action and close cooperation among law enforcement agencies, financial authorities and States.

It calls for efforts to identify, detect, and freeze or seize any funds used or allocated for the purpose of committing a terrorist act. It urges States to consider establishing mechanisms to use such funds to compensate victims and/or their families.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) which has earned international notoriety and opprobrium for its countless cold blooded and savage acts of terrorism, targeting not only high profile politicians and military personnel, but ordinary civilians, designed to cause maximum casualties and property destruction, is a prime candidate for consideration by the Working Group for listing, as an international terrorist group. The LTTE is pre-eminently qualified to meet the criteria for such listing.

After all, the LTTE has been described as “probably the most sophisticated terrorist organization in the world”, by Dr. Magnus Ranstorp, Chief Scientist at the Centre Asymmetric Threat Studies of the Swedish National Defence College. More recently, the FBI of the United States has given the LTTE the appellation as “among the most dangerous and deadly extremists in the world”.

I do hope the UN Working Group will take cognizance of the clear and present danger that the LTTE poses not only to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka, but equally to the law and order as well as the stability of Western societies, which have been infected by the pernicious and malignant influence of the LTTE.

The LTTE is notorious for resorting to intimidation, extortion and even violence on the large Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora in the West to ensure a steady flow of funds to finance its terrorist campaign in Sri Lanka.

Funding from the diaspora has been the mainstay fuelling the LTTE’s terror campaign in Sri Lanka. The traditional “melting pot” paradigm, where emigrants gradually lost ties to their countries of origin and became assimilated into the social fabric of their adopted nations, is no longer the norm.

The LTTE, running a highly sophisticated and intricate international web, encompassing the whole gamut of activities ranging from seemingly innocuous pursuits, such as the promotion of Tamil culture to raising funds ostensibly to support charities and humanitarian relief in Sri Lanka, has cleverly exploited modern technology to finance its terror campaign.

In fact, although several countries including India, the United States, the United Kingdom, the 27 member European Union and Canada have proscribed the LTTE, the many front organizations of the LTTE which operate rather freely in these countries, continue to raise funds and engage in propaganda in support of the LTTE. These fronts provide a cover for the LTTE to indulge in various nefarious activities, including illicit arms procurement, human smuggling, narcotics trafficking, credit card scams and money laundering.

All too often there is a tendency to lose sight of the meticulous organization behind each act of terrorism, the extensive network of secret cells, responsible for collecting funds, procuring illicit weapons and bomb making material, and foot soldiers responsible for propaganda. The ability of the LTTE to transfer vast sums money through illicit channels, bypassing the scrutiny of Central Banks of Governments, is a major challenge in combating terrorism.

We greatly appreciate the pro-active stance of the Australian authorities in arresting and prosecuting frontline activists and sympathizers of the LTTE, notwithstanding the fact that Australia is yet to proscribe the LTTE as a terrorist organization. Hence, the arrest of three activists of the Melbourne based LTTE front, the Tamil Coordinating Committee in April 2007 by the Australian Federal Police and their subsequent prosecution on charges relating to raising funds for terrorism, is all the more welcome.

We also note that the Australian Federal Police have arrested the Director of a Melbourne business college in July this year, at the request of the FBI of the US, for his links to the LTTE, and wanted to face prosecution for alleged terrorism offences in the US.

However, much more needs to be done to pursue front organizations of the LTTE, posing off as charities and humanitarian relief groups, which continue to raise funds to fill the LTTE war chest.

In this respect, the United States has taken a bold lead in targeting the support network of the LTTE by designating the Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), which had long claimed itself to be a charitable organization, as a front to facilitate fund raising and procurement of weapons for the LTTE.”

Notwithstanding the overwhelming body of evidence that is available with several governments on the inextricable and organic link between the TRO and the LTTE, it is a matter of regret that apart from the US and the UK governments which have listed the TRO, this organization as well as numerous other fronts, representing the multi-headed hydra like character of the LTTE, are operating with impunity, thumbing a nose at the authorities in many Western countries which have a significant presence of the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora.

Thus, the onus is now clearly upon the international community to support Sri Lanka, by taking tangible and meaningful steps to eradicate terrorism from our land, and help the government to restore democracy and rebuild the damaged infrastructure in the North and the East of the country. We believe that the true friends of Sri Lanka in the international community, who have the well being of our people at heart must put their money where their mouth is, by taking decisive action to stop funds being raised under various ruses, which are being channeled to finance the LTTE’s operations.

We strongly believe that terrorism cannot be countered by using terrorism; we reject the notion that terror must be fought by terror.

While this approach has found favour in certain quarters, giving rise to robust rules of engagement for the military to engage terrorists, in turn, resulting in collateral damage in the form of massive civilian casualties, Sri Lanka firmly believes in the protection of human rights, even as its military forces are currently engaged in freeing our people from the fascist and dictatorial control of the LTTE terrorists, who are now holed up in parts of the Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts in the North.

The Government of Sri Lanka is deeply concerned about the humanitarian situation of civilians in the uncleared areas, as the military operations enter a decisive phase to free these areas from the terrorists. As a responsible government, President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s administration is acutely conscious and aware of its responsibilities towards all citizens of Sri Lanka.

This is why, even as there is intensification of the military strikes against the LTTE, there is remarkably minimal collateral civilian casualties. This has not occurred by chance or a fortuitous turn of circumstances, but rather in pursuance of the government directive to the military to adhere strictly to a policy of “zero civilian casualty”, in combating terrorism.

The absence of civilian deaths in the Eastern Province clearing operations last year, except in one isolated incident where the LTTE used civilians as cover to fire at the military, is a manifestation of the success of this strategy, which we are confident, will be replicated in the ongoing operations in the North.

While it should come as no surprise that critics of Sri Lanka and sympathizers of the LTTE are attempting to portray a misleading and totally false notion that the government is opting for a military solution to address the problems of the minorities, it is unfortunate that some of our friends too have been influenced by this malicious propaganda.

Nothing can be further from the truth. In fact, President Mahinda Rajapaksa addressing the 63rd session of the UN General Assembly in New York last month, made it amply clear to the international community that the Government of Sri Lanka is firmly committed to a political solution.

The Government attaches the highest importance to the humanitarian needs of displaced persons and civilians in the areas affected by the conflict. This is an obligation and responsibility which the Government has assumed since the inception of the conflict.

The civilians who are trapped in the LTTE controlled areas are being encouraged to move out of these areas through “humanitarian corridors” created in order that the security forces can put an end to terrorism in Sri Lanka and prevent them being used by the LTTE as “human shields”.

It is highly deplorable that the LTTE is cynically exploiting the plight of innocent civilians kept prisoner against their will, for propaganda purposes. With regard to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in LTTE dominated areas in the Killinochchi and Mullativu districts, the current estimate is around 250,000, of which there are 110,000 pre-2006 IDPs forced to flee to the Wanni by the LTTE from the Jaffna peninsula, another 90,000 who were displaced between 2006 and June 2008 and the rest displaced due to the on-going operations. In considering the situation of the IDPs, it is important that we bear in mind that the situation of those displaced due to the on-going military operations in the Wanni, as previously in the case of the East, is merely a temporary dislocation.

On the other hand, I wonder why the shrill voices of those who are screaming of a non-existent humanitarian catastrophe in the Wanni, are deafeningly silent on the plight of the over 100,000 Muslims who are now languishing in refugee camps, mainly in the impoverished Puttalam district and others in the Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa districts after being forcibly evicted by the LTTE from the North. 24th October marks the 18thanniversary of the ethnic cleansing of Muslims from the North by the LTTE.

More than 75,000 Muslims were compelled to vacate their homes at gun point on this day in 1990 by the LTTE and after they were driven out of their lands, which they had inhabited from time immemorial, the LTTE went about systematically looting and pillaging the properties and valuables of these hapless people. If any proof were needed of the racist nature of the LTTE, the ethnic cleansing of Muslims from the North, speaks for itself - res ipsa loquitur.

It is very important that all those who are concerned about Sri Lanka including the welfare of the Tamil community should perceive the marginalisation of the LTTE in the correct light. LTTE does not represent the Tamil community in Sri Lanka. Therefore, military action against the LTTE should never be perceived as action against our brethren, the Tamil community. We are concerned about them and will work with them to ensure their welfare, security and aspirations since they are our fellow citizens.

Sri Lanka, a party to all major UN Conventions relating to terrorism, and playing an active role as Chair of the General Assembly’s Ad Hoc Committee on the Elimination of International Terrorism, will continue to urge all member nations to ratify them so as to give real meaning to the intent of the drafters, who have toiled through sleepless nights in lengthy and exhaustive negotiations to produce these important legally binding instruments, and thus implement their provisions in letter and spirit.

Nothing short of this commitment would suffice in the global struggle to eliminate the modern day scourge of terrorism.

Source: Daily News

Toronto non-profit raised millions for Tamil Tigers

Stewart Bell, National Post

A Toronto non-profit group wired more than $3-million to overseas bank accounts, some of them linked to the Tamil Tigers, before it was shut down by the government in June for alleged terrorist financing, says an RCMP report released yesterday.

The report, marked "Secret" but unsealed by order of a Federal Court judge, provides the first detailed look at the banking activities of the World Tamil Movement (WTM), a Toronto-based group accused of bankrolling Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers guerrillas.

Most of the money, $1.9-million, went to an account at the Bumiputra Commerce Bank in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that the RCMP report says "is utilized as a vehicle to forward money to the LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam] from Canada."

The 83-page financial report is the fruit of two years of analysis of banking records seized by Canadian anti-terrorism police who are investigating a financial network run by supporters of the Tamil Tigers that allegedly raised money in Canada to buy arms for the guerrillas.

"The bank records seized ... demonstrate that the World Tamil Movement has developed an elaborate machine like entity that moves throughout the Greater Toronto Area collecting funds with extreme proficiency," the police report says.

Stockwell Day, the Public Safety Minister, announced on June 16 that his government had added the WTM to Ottawa's official list of terrorist groups, alongside the likes of Al-Qaeda, Hamas and Hezbollah. The WTM is the first Canadian community group to be listed.

The WTM has denied any involvement in terrorist fundraising and vowed to challenge the government's decision, and at a large outdoor rally in Toronto on July 5, Tamils waved Tamil Tigers flags and endorsed a statement condemning Ottawa's decision to ban the WTM.

The Minister has accused the WTM of transferring money to LTTE bank accounts in Sri Lanka, but the RCMP's Feb. 1, 2008, financial report paints a more detailed picture of a complex network made up of 20 Canadian bank accounts.

Five banks held the accounts: Toronto Dominion, Bank of Nova Scotia, Royal Bank, CIBC and the National Bank of Canada. The Canadian account holders wired money regularly to accounts in Malaysia, Singapore, the United Kingdom and Tamil Tigers-controlled areas of Sri Lanka.

RCMP Corporal Deanna Hill, the author of the police report, wrote that the WTM's financial set-up was "congruent with the money laundering techniques often employed by organized crime groups.

"I also believe that the number of accounts alone demonstrate that the World Tamil Movement has utilized the Canadian banking system to raise funds in a manner that is best suited to financing the terrorist activities of the LTTE."

The Tamil Tigers have been fighting for 25 years for an independent homeland for Sri Lanka's ethnic Tamil minority, which has faced discrimination under the island's Sinhalese majority.

In addition to fighting a conventional guerrilla war, however, the Tigers also employ terrorist tactics, such as suicide bombings and political assassinations, which has landed them on international terrorist lists, Canada's included.

The RCMP began investigating the Tamil Tigers' Canadian fundraising network in 2002, focusing on the WTM's large head office in Toronto and its smaller branch offices in Montreal and Vancouver. Police raided the Toronto and Montreal offices in 2006.

Police seized letters from the Tamil Tigers leadership thanking Canada for its donations, explaining how the money had been used to purchase weapons, and asking for more. But much of the police evidence appears to have come from a study of bank accounts held by the WTM and its officers.

The Project Osaluki financial report claims the WTM's most lucrative fundraising method was a pre-authorized payment program, in which the group persuaded hundreds of its supporters to sign forms allowing money to be withdrawn from their bank accounts each month.

The WTM took in up to $763,000 a year using the payment scheme. On a single day in 2005, the WTM withdrew $63,528 from 1,582 bank accounts. "It is obvious from the amounts collected with this method that the pre-authorized payment scheme is effective, timely and spares valued resources," says the RCMP report.

Most of the forms had been signed in Canada but police also interviewed witnesses who said they had signed them at Tamil Tigers checkpoints in Sri Lanka. "Upon their return to Canada, these persons were visited by representatives of the World Tamil Movement to exact the collection of the monthly stipend," Cpl. Hill wrote.

In addition, the WTM made money through bake sales, car washes, newspaper sales, merchandise sales and festivals, the report says. "To date, the total amount of Canadian dollars that have been forwarded to accounts internationally from accounts controlled by the World Tamil Movement in Canada is $3,101,803.33."

Source: National Post

Non-profit Tamil group added to terrorism list

Stewart Bell, National Post
Published: Monday, June 16, 2008

TORONTO -- A Toronto-based non-profit organization has been outlawed by Cabinet under the Anti-Terrorism Act, in what may signal an aggressive new approach to combating terrorist financing in Canada.

The decision to add the World Tamil Movement to Canada's list of outlawed terrorist groups marks the first time Ottawa has used the anti-terrorism law to shut down a Canadian community group for ties to terrorists.

Stockwell Day, the Minister of Public Safety, was expected to make the announcement in Toronto today at 1 p.m. but financial institutions were officially notified at 9 a.m. this morning by Canada's banking regulator.

The directive issued by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions advised banks and insurance companies to notify the RCMP or CSIS if they hold any accounts linked to the WTM.

The announcement may mark the end of the road for the WTM, which has operated in Canada since the 1980s. Earlier this year, the RCMP seized dozens of bank accounts linked to the group's officers and shut down its Montreal branch office.

The Anti-Terrorism Act, passed in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, allows federal Cabinet to prepare a list of "entitites" whose activities are proscribed by Canadian law due to their involvement in terrorist violence.

Until today's announcement, there were 40 listed entities, all of them groups directly engaged in violence, such as al-Qaeda, Hezbollah and Hamas. Although the law allows for the listing of front or support groups, Cabinet had so far refrained from doing so.

Because this is a first, it is unclear what will happen next. The listing makes it illegal to financially support the group. Presumably, the WTM offices in Canada would be forced to close and cease operations. The group could also appeal the ruling.

The WTM has been under close police scrutiny. Headquartered in Scarborough, Ont., the group is accused by Canadian police and intelligence of being the leading front organization for the Tigers, a separatist guerrilla group responsible for scores of terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka.

RCMP national security teams have been conducting a criminal probe of the WTM since 2003, and raided its offices in Toronto and Montreal in April 2006, seizing a truckload of documents and Tigers paraphernalia.

In court, RCMP officers claimed to have found evidence indicating the WTM serves as a Tigers front and has been aggressively fundraising in Canada in close concert with Tigers headquarters in Sri Lanka.

Many Tamil-Canadians support the Tamil Tigers, considering them freedom fighters, but other have complained to police about the heavy-handed fundraising tactics of the WTM, which some have likened to extortion, but the group, while it admits it is sympathetic to the Tigers, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Isolated on a small island, the Tigers are heavily dependent on outside sources of financing, which they use in part to purchase the weapons needed to prosecute a civil war that has been reignited by the collapse of a ceasefire agreement and the withdrawal of international monitors.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE, have been fighting since 1983 for a separate state for Sri Lanka's ethnic Tamil minority but in addition to traditional guerrilla tactics, the group has resorted to such terror tactics as suicide bombings, targeted political assassinations of leading government figures as well as the bombing of buses, trains and commercial buildings.

As home to the world's largest ethnic Tamil populations, Canada has also become an important offshore base for the rebels, which control several front groups in Toronto that harness political and financial support to finance the ethnic insurgency half-a-world away.

Canada outlawed the Tigers under the Anti-Terrorism Act in 2006 but fundraising and other forms of support have continued. Late last year, thousands of Tamil-Canadians converged at the Markham Fairgrounds north of Toronto to attend funeral services for S.P. Thamilselvan, the second-in-command of the LTTE, who was killed in a government air strike. Several Toronto-area Liberal MPs also attended and later defended their actions.

sbell@nationalpost.com

Source: National Post