Tamil leaders 'killed as they tried to surrender'

Text messages sent by Sri Lankan officials told the rebels how to give themselves
up. They obeyed the instructions – but were shot dead.

Wednesday, 20 May 2009

The desperate efforts of two senior LTTE leaders trapped in the war zone to save
their lives were revealed yesterday as it emerged they were shot dead as they
prepared to surrender to Sri Lankan government forces.

In a flurry of emails, text messages and telephone calls that passed between NGOs, a
foreign government and Sri Lankan officials in Colombo, the two LTTE political
leaders frantically inquired as to how they could give themselves up.
They were told: "Get a piece of white cloth, put up your hands and walk towards the
other side in a non-threatening manner."

But the attempt to surrender by Balasingham Nadesan, head of the LTTE's wing, and
Seevaratnam Pulidevan, who led the rebels' peace secretariat, failed. Sometime
between midnight on 17 May and the early hours of the next morning, the two men
were shot dead. LTTE officials overseas claim the two men were killed by government
troops as they approached them bearing a white flag. Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan
government has suggested the two men may have been shot dead by LTTE fighters,
angry at them fleeing the conflict zone.
The row over the circumstances surrounding the killing of the men came as Sri
Lanka's president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, told the parliament that the country had been
"liberated from separatist terror". "Our intention was to save the Tamil people from
the cruel grip of the [rebels]. We all must now live as equals in this free
country," he said.

As Mr Rajapaksa spoke, state television broadcast images of the body of rebel leader
Velupillai Prabhakaran, who was killed by government forces on Monday morning. The
bloated body of the LTTE leader was shown dressed in a camouflage uniform and lying
on a stretcher. A piece of blue cloth had been placed on his head, apparently to
cover a bullet wound. "A few hours ago, the body of terrorist leader Prabhakaran,
who ruined this country, was found on the battleground," said army chief General
Sarath Fonseka.
But while Mr Prabhakaran – the man who always vowed to take his own life rather than
surrender – opted to fight to the death with the last of his forces, some of the
so-called "civil members" of the LTTE would have preferred to have lived to fight
another day. Over the weekend, Mr Nadesan and Mr Pulidevan sent out messages,
indicating that they wished to surrender to a third party – namely the International
Committee of the Red Cross, the only aid organisation with access to the conflict
zone.
The chief intermediary for the two men was the Norwegian government's Environment
Minister Erik Solheim, who led efforts to broker a ceasefire between in 2002. On
Sunday 17 May, Mr Solheim apparently received calls from LTTE figures who said they
wanted to surrender.

Trine Eskedal, a spokeswoman for the ministry of foreign affairs in Oslo, said: "The
minister said he spoke with Mr Pulidevan at midnight, who gave him the message that
the political leaders wanted to surrender [to the ICRC]. At the time he could hear
gunshots in the background." She said that an official, then contacted both the ICRC
and the Sri Lankan government.
The ICRC confirmed last night that it had received word from the Norwegians that the
two leaders were looking to give themselves up. "The ICRC was approached on this
matter by the representatives of the LTTE as well as the Norwegian authorities,"
said spokeswoman Sarsai Wijeratne. "The information was referred to the Sri Lankan
authorities. We have no idea what happened [then]. We lost contact with everyone in
the last conflict."
The government's point man in the negotiations appears to have been foreign
secretary Palitha Kohona. He said that in the days leading up to Sunday evening, he
had received a number of messages indicating that Mr Nadesan and Mr Pulidevan – whom
he has met at various peace talks – wanted a way out. It is understood that a number
of these messages were delivered from a European NGO with a history of working in
northern Sri Lanka.

In an interview in his office in the foreign ministry's oceanfront building, Mr
Kohona said that his response had been that "there was only one way to surrender
that is recognised by military practice". He said they should obtain a white flag
and give themselves up. "I kept saying this for three days," he added.
Mr Kohona produced a text message stored on his phone which he had sent to the NGO
at 8.46am on Sunday, 16 hours before the Norwegian minister had his final
conversation with the LTTE leaders. The message – in response to a question from the
NGO as to whether the two political leaders would be safe if they gave themselves up
– read: "Just walk across to the troops, slowly! With a white flag and comply with
instructions carefully. The soldiers are nervous about suicide bombers."
The pro-LTTE website TamilNet yesterday reported claims from rebel officials outside
Sri Lanka that Mr Nadesan and Mr Pulidevan had been shot dead by government troops
as they advanced towards them carrying a white flag, as they had been instructed to
do. The report claimed informed sources said what happened in the early hours of
Monday was "a well-planned massacre of several unarmed civil officers of the LTTE
with the aim of annihilating its political structure".
Experts say that shooting someone trying to surrender was a war crime. ICRC director
of operations Pierre Krähenbühl, told reporters: "Under international humanitarian
law, all those who are not or are no longer fighting must be spared. The wounded and
sick must be cared for immediately and captives must be treated humanely."
But Mr Kohona said he had been told by troops present at the time that they
understood the two men had been shot by LTTE cadres who learned of their attempt to
escape. "This is consistent with their behaviour," he added.

What is clear is that the situation inside the war zone had become increasingly
desperate on Sunday. During the day, squeezed into a strip of land measuring just a
few hundred square metres, the remaining LTTE fighters tried to lay down their arms
to secure a ceasefire. This was rejected by the government and later some of the
rebels attempted a series of suicide attacks on the advancing troops. "This battle
has reached its bitter end," a senior rebel spokesman, Selvarajah Pathmanathan.
It was in these circumstances that the two political leaders – trapped, hopeless and
with no other options – made their final desperate attempt to save their lives. The
Norwegian minister, Mr Solheim, said he had spoken with Mr Pulidevan and later gone
to bed. "The next morning I heard they were dead," he said.
On Monday, as news emerged that the last of the LTTE had been killed, the EU called
for an independent investigation into alleged violations of human rights law in Sri
Lanka's war.