Pro-Government Militias
Documentation for Karuna Group/Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP)
Nov. 18, 2004 Xinhua
Aug. 20, 2005 The Economist
Nov. 14, 2006 The New York Times
Nov. 29, 2006 Christian Science Monitor
Feb. 19, 2007 IPS - Inter Press Service
That is not the only problem. The Paris-based RSF says Tamil Tiger rebels, who claim discrimination at the hands of Sri Lanka's Sinhala majority and are bent on carving out a separate homeland for ethnic Tamils, threaten those who oppose their political position.
The Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance, representing the interests of Tamil journalists, says that Tamil newspapers have also been banned in eastern towns where a breakaway faction of the LTTE is active.
"They have banned Tamil newspapers which are supportive of the Tigers," a spokesman for the alliance said. The breakaway group led by Karuna, a former eastern commander of the LTTE, works alongside security forces.
The strategy has worked and large parts of the east held by the Tigers have been regained by the military, in recent battles, with the help of Karuna's fighters. The government and the military have repeatedly denied links with Karuna's fighters.
June 9, 2007 The Economist
The government of President Maninda Rajapakse also uses terrorism. More than 300 Tamil civilians, including many with family links to the Tigers, have been murdered in Jaffna alone. Armed members of a Tamil political party, the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), allegedly with close ties to army spies, have been accused of some of these killings.
In Jaffna, M.V. xxx, editor of the leading Uthayan newspaper, has decorated his office walls with photographs of the bloodied corpses of his journalists. Last year, on Press Freedom Day as it happened, two of his staff were shot dead at their computers by masked men.
After the Tiger attack near Omanthai, on June 5th, the army chief, Lieut-General Sarath Fonseka, said it was time for a new ceasefire. If he meant it, this would be a big strategic shift by the government. Earlier this year, after a visit to Sri Lanka's holiest Buddhist site, Sri Dalada Maligawa, General Fonseka promised to "annihilate" the Tigers.
Compliant in the way of other militias, Colonel Karuna demobilised 5,000-6,000 Tiger fighters ahead of the army's advance. He has since recruited a fresh militia, including, says the UN, over 200 children. This mob, which itself split last month, is being used by the government in time-honoured fashion: for intelligence, to rile the Tigers and to murder its opponents. The government, of course, denies this
July 7, 2007 BBC Monitoring South Asia
Q: Where is the biggest threat coming from? Is it the government, LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam] or paramilitaries?
A: ..The threat is coming mainly from the government party and the military.
Q: How would you compare the deteriorating situation for the media in Sri Lanka with other conflict-ridden countries in the world?
A: If we go to the past and look at military offensives like Jayasikuru [operation against the LTTE in late 1990s], we all had the freedom to write about them, because there was no ideological conflict. But now, the government says that the journalists must support the war effort. Our duty is to take the middle path in any conflict. Even America tried to do that, but there are many alternative voices that have also come up. Even in India, the media is able to voice concern without being called traitors. But in Sri Lanka, the moment you criticize the government, you are immediately labelled a traitor. This has happened in Rwanda, but it is the first time it is happening here, and it is a frightening reality. This is why even some of the main media houses are not doing their job. Many Tamil journalists are frightened to criticize the LTTE or Karuna [rebel faction leader]. There is self-censorship being exercised
Nov. 6, 2007 Guardian
The Karuna faction, as the group is also known,
March 10, 2008 The International Herald Tribune
Until recently, TMVP gunmen openly patrolled the east. The group is accused by human rights organizations, as well as United Nations officials, of recruiting child soldiers. Fear pervades, and critics worry that its cadres will browbeat or ballot-stuff its way to an election victory. (…)
Neither the TMVP nor other Tamil parties who oppose the Tigers have laid down their arms. The pro-Tiger party is not fielding candidates in these elections, saying they are not safe.
Aug. 20, 2008 BBC Monitoring
The Free Media Movement (FMM), an IFJ affiliate, said it had received reports that Thakshila Jayasena, of the BBC's Sandeshaya Sinhala Service, received the threat on 15 August after covering a protest campaign by the United National Party, Sri Lanka's main opposition party.
Jayasena lodged a complaint with police in Polonnaruwa, reporting that a motorcyclist had blocked her taxi as she returned to her office, and told her that he intended not to leave anyone alive. She recognised him from a press conference held by Mangalam Master, the TMVP candidate for the Polonnaruwa provincial council election.
The FMM said that several threats had been made against journalists in recent months by members of TMVP, a paramilitary and political group which is contesting the provincial elections.
Feb. 12, 2009 BBC Monitoring South Asia
Eastern Province Chief Minister and TMVP Leader Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan told the Daily Mirror that as an initial step the party had begun disarming its military wing and its cadres were now receiving vocational training and preparing for overseas employment.
"We have begun to disarm the cadres. There is no need for our cadres to have arms now. We hope to complete the process soon," Mr Chandrakanthan said. (…)
He added that while most of the military wing had now disarmed, some of his political cadres would continue to hold weapons for self security. He said that these cadres too would disarm in time.
The Daily Mirror learns that soon after the cadres disarm, Army and police protection is to be provided to the senior leaders of the party who face threats. The Daily Mirror also learns that following the disarming of the TMVP, most of its cadres are expected to join the Army and the police force.
March 6, 2009 BBC Monitoring South Asia
"The chief minister along with the political bureau members will then hold a media conference and discuss all the issues faced by the TMVP. However as a start, we are glad to hand over all our weapons to the government," Mr Maulana said.
He added that the Defence Ministry and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) had already begun training TMVP cadres for foreign and self-employment and some would be sent for overseas employment soon. However Mr Maulana added that many had decided to join the security forces and would be enrolled in the Army, Police and the Navy.
"Most of our cadres want to join the security forces and we are happy that they want to do so. It is their choice. Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse too has been very cooperative in helping our cadres join the security forces," Mr Maulana said.
The TMVP, earlier last week, disabled all its weapons from being used in the Eastern Province after it said that it had completed disarming. Even senior TMVP cadres who had, in the past been under threat by the LTTE, had stopped carrying their weapons in keeping with the new party policy.
March 7, 2009 Xinhua General News Service
Some 250 weapons belonging to the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP, meaning Tamil People's Liberation Tigers), were handed over to the military in the eastern town of Batticaloa, some 320 km east of the capital Colombo in the afternoon, TMVP spokesman Azath Moulana told Colombo media by phone.
"Our politburo took a decision to hand over the weapons as terrorism is coming to an end," Moulana said. He said the TMVP had taken to arms for self defense but now there is no need to carry arms.
On the future of its armed cadres, Moulana said the Ministry of Defense and the International Organization for Migration had both promised a better future for them.
The TMVP, a breakaway faction of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was formed in 2004 led by the LTTE's former eastern commander Vinayagamurthi Muralitharan alias Karuna.
Karuna is now a member of the Sri Lankan parliament from the ruling party of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse.
Moulana said the TMVP would now function solely as a democratic party.
March 18, 2009 BBC Monitoring South Asia
He told Daily Mirror on Saturday that out of the 2,000 TMVP cadres some 200 were willing to join the security forces.
"But the others have not made up their minds about joining the security forces because of the existing ethnic conflict," Mr. Chandrakanthan said adding that in the meanwhile the International Organization of Migration was providing self-employment training to most of the cadres.
"We have a big duty towards our cadres, some of them have been injured and some have lost their limbs and need to be rehabilitated," he said. Mr. Chandrakanthan said the decision to disband the military wing was correct and timely as the TMVP believed terrorism was coming to an end.
"We carried arms for our security and always maintained that if the LTTE was destroyed we will disarm," he said. "That time has come and as the international community too is willing to help us I see a bright future for the former military cadres."
April 30, 2009 The Toronto Star
July 24, 2009 The Irish Times
He also leads the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP), the Tamil Peoples Liberation Tigers, a pro-government Tamil faction, many of whose members are former Tiger militants, having defected after a split in the organisation in April 2004.
As chief minister, Pillayan lives in a heavily fortified residence near the lagoon, bordered by an army camp. The TMVP s political office is tucked into a leafy laneway off Batticaloa s main streets. Although there is a police checkpoint nearby, the TMVP building does not have armed sentries, once mandatory for any Tamil organisation that opposed the Tamil Tigers.
In March, the group handed in its considerable arsenal of weapons to the police at the town s Weber Stadium. (..)
Following a brief internal war, Karuna broke away from the Tigers with about 6,000 fighters, many of whom have now regrouped as the TMVP. But violent clashes between supporters of Karuna and his deputy Pillayan rent the district throughout 2007.
Last year, Karuna and 2,000 of his supporters joined the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), the largest party in the ruling coalition.
July 29, 2011 BBC Monitoring South Asia
The Island: In spite of the conclusion of the conflict in May 2009, a section of the Opposition allege some of those once engaged in anti-LTTE operations continued to retain weapons. Some specific allegations are levelled against the TMVP, which controls some local government bodies in the East, including Batticaloa MC. Why are you turning a blind eye to concerns expressed by the Opposition and a section of the media?
Gotabhaya Rajapaksa: Soon after the eradication of the LTTE, the government took measures to withdraw weapons issued to various armed groups. I directed the police and the military to recover weapons regardless of political affiliations in spite of resentment. It wasn't a popular decision. Many felt they can retain the weapons, though the LTTE no longer posed a threat. Obviously some unauthorized personnel retained some weapons and we'll continue to look for them. Some TMVP members, too, had been subject to police investigations in the post-war period, though the breakaway LTTE faction worked with the government.