"..The history of human rights in Tamil Eelam is best viewed in the year 2006 as two parts over two time periods that is demarcated by the signing of the ceasefire agreement in 2002. The human rights history prior to this signing is a history that is horrendous, darkened, and poorly documented. More than 80,000 civilians were killed and disappeared. People were denied their language right, livelihood right, land right and education right. The signing of the ceasefire agreement was marked by heightened hope that an end to this is in the horizon..."

Political wing head quarters
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
10 December 2006

“To be free and fully human has been the central problem of human kind all along”
- Paulo Freire

The ringing universal declaration of human rights (UDHR) made a big shift in the consciousness of mankind to acknowledge the above reality. On 10th December we celebrate this fact and take stock of the progress made by the human kind in their struggle towards the goal. The freedom struggle of the Tamil people in the Tamil Eelam nation is part of this central problem and the struggle towards the goal. Let us take stock of the human rights history within this Tamil struggle.

The history of human rights in Tamil Eelam is best viewed in the year 2006 as two parts over two time periods that is demarcated by the signing of the ceasefire agreement in 2002. The human rights history prior to this signing is a history that is horrendous, darkened, and poorly documented. More than 80,000 civilians were killed and disappeared. People were denied their language right, livelihood right, land right and education right. The signing of the ceasefire agreement was marked by heightened hope that an end to this is in the horizon.

The ceasefire agreement has four major parts besides the two parties that signed the agreement. These are: 1) the ceasefire agreement; 2) an international monitoring mission; 3) a third party facilitator, the Norwegian government and 4) an international body, the co-chairs who kept an eye on the human rights progress. The human rights history of this five year ceasefire period is in fact a history of well planned step by step destruction of these four components of the ceasefire agreement that was the source of hope for human rights in the Tamil Eelam nation. Indeed this history can be put in a 3 D nutshell,

- Destruction of the ceasefire agreement clause by clause by the government of Sri Lanka . The most recent step was the reinstatement of the infamous Prevention of Terrorism Act disallowed in the ceasefire agreement and condemned in the past by many international human rights bodies.

- Deactivation of the international monitors by directly firing at the head of the monitoring mission on two occasions and blocking their access to areas of violations of the ceasefire which are also almost always violations of human rights.

- Denial of humanitarian assistance to large populations by closing the only land routes to areas. (Example: the A9 route to Jaffna of 600,000 people closed for five months and the A15 route to Vaharai of 36,000 people closed for two months.)

People of Tamil Eelam are now left with no option other than to continue their struggle to be free and fully human and establish the universal declaration of human rights in their nation.

-LTTEPS