SLMM turned blind eye to LTTE violations, WikiLeaks cable reveals

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) used draconian conscription methods to recruit Tamil civilians living in the Wanni to its forces and Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) turned a blind eye to LTTE forced conscription, another WikiLeaks cable released to the media said.

In a cable dated 12 June 2007, then United States Ambassador to Colombo, Robert O. Blake, Jr., has informed Washington that the LTTE had complete control of all activities that take place in Tiger-controlled territory, including forced conscription and the use of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) to extract money from INGOs.

The cable published in The Guardian noted that the SLMM has remained complacent in the face of coercive techniques the LTTE employed to maintain control of its northern stronghold.

The Embassy has learnt from a contact that the LTTE had ordered International non-governmental organisations (INGOs) to provide all project funding through local NGOs, which are managed collectively by the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO).

According to the informant even though the United Nations did not work through the TRO, its funds had been channelled to the TRO through local NGOs.

The U.S. Embassy in Colombo had come to the conclusion that the money extorted by the TRO probably funded the LTTE administration in the territory it occupied, rather than arms purchases as the amounts are miniscule compared to what the overseas Tamil Diaspora raises.

The Embassy speculated that the Diaspora money funded the arms purchases that were smuggled into the Wanni.