UCDP

General information

Part of Conflict: Sri Lanka (Ceylon): Eelam

Date of first stated goals of incompatibility: 1976-05-14
Comment on date of first stated goal of incompatibility: The record relating to the early phase of the Tamil militancy is unclear. The above date refers to the passing of the Vaddukoddai resolution, which was the first official call for the establishment of a separate state of Tamil Eelam, covering the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka. It reads that "the reconstitution of the Free, Sovereign, Secular, Socialist State of Tamil Eelam [...] has become inevitable in order to safeguard the very existence of the Tamil Nation in this country". It was signed by the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), an alliance dominating the political Tamil leadership in the mid 60s. The LTTE and its early predecessor, the Tamil New Tigers (TNT), started out as pure military outfits, and it is difficult to find early political statements specifying their distinct view on the actual realization of Tamil self-determination. The small, but concerted militant struggle of the Tiger movement was however, from its beginning in the mid-70s, known for pursuing the more extreme goal of Tamil independence, also at a time when the more moderate political leaders did not publicly share this view. At the time of the Vaddukoddai resolution the links between TULF and the LTTE was known to be strong, with the leader of the LTTE present at the Vaddukoddai convention and Uma Maheswaran, one of the central persons in the TULF leadership, becoming political leader in LTTE the next year.

Date of first use of armed force: 1975-07-27
Comment on date of first use of armed force: The records relating to the early phase of Tamil militancy are unclear, especially regarding the first embryonic structures of armed separatism taking hold in the 70s. Several incidents of violence and armed clashes between Tamil youth and the police are reported to take place from the mid 70s. The degree of organisation among the perpetrators and the records of the events are, however, not clear. Among such incidents are the riots in Jaffna, 16 August 1976 and LTTEs alleged involvement in January 1978, in the assassination of a TULF MP, who had switched allegiance to the ruling party. The first use of armed force that the LTTE as a established group officially claimed responsibility for was the killing of a police patrol on its way to a LTTE training camp on 7 April 1978. At the same time that the LTTE made this statement they also acknowledged several past acts of violence, among them the assassination of the Mayor on Jaffna on 27 July 1975. This date is before the formal establishment of LTTE on 5 May 1976, but the same rebel structures under the leadership of Prabhakaran are known to be active under the name Tamil New Tigers from 22 May 1972. This assassination is thus recorded as the first use of armed force.
First Battle Related Death: 1975-07-27
Comment on First Battle Related Death: The records relating to the early phase of Tamil militancy is unclear, especially with regard to the first embryonic structures of armed separatism beginning to take hold in the 70s. Several incidents of violence and armed clashes between Tamil youth and the police are reported from the mid 70s and onwards. The degree of organisation among the perpetrators and the records of the events are not clear. Among such incidents are the riots in Jaffna, 16 August 1976 and LTTEs alleged involvement in January 1978, in the assassination of a TULF MP, who had switched allegiance to the ruling party.

The first use of armed force that the LTTE as an established group officially claimed responsibility for was the killing of a police patrol on its way to a LTTE training camp on 7 April 1978. At the same time that the LTTE made this admittance they also acknowledged several past acts of violence, among these the assassination of the Mayor on Jaffna on 27 July 1975. The LTTE was not formally established before 5 May 1976, but the same rebel structures under the leadership of Prabhakaran from 22 May 1972. The assassination is thus recorded as the first battle-related death.

Date when dyad reached 25 battle releated deaths: 1984-09-01
Comment on date when dyad reached 25 battle related deaths: On 1 September 1984 five policemen were killed in an explosion at Thikkam, Jaffna. These deaths added to events in attacks on police and military during the year added upto 25 battle-realted deaths.

Conflict issues

Conflict Goal Issues: The LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) was a rebel group that fought the Government of Sri Lanka. The group was established in 1976. It combined radical nationalism for the ethnic Tamil minority with socialist elements. The group was first listed as active in the UCDP in 1984. The first conflict goal statements could already be documented one year prior to that in 1983. In that year, the group stressed unemployment, lacking access to higher education, as well as the imposition of an alien language as the root causes for their fight towards radical change. The group claimed that due to mounting oppression, the only way to achieve this change was armed struggle for independence.

The LTTE expressed a wide range of conflict goal issues which allows to discern trends over time. A large constant here were the repeated calls for independence which could be documented multiple times from 1983 until 2009. Further, the group over several decades made statements regarding harsh living conditions. This partly referred to malnutrition amongst children, but the LTTE also criticized a lack of computers and education access due to an economic embargo by the Government of Sri Lanka. While most documented conflict goal issues were expressed repeatedly over time and remained constant, a call for a socialist state could only be documented once in 1986, when the group declared that the government as well as the constitution of an independent Eelam would be socialist.

A clear main conflict goal issue for the LTTE was its struggle for independence. Calls for independence could be documented in 15 years in total over several decades and with radical emphasis. Notably, the documented issues indicate that the group did not see room for compromises here and clearly expressed that the “creation of an independent state was the only path open to the Tamil people” and that “our people are determined to live as free human beings with dignity and prepared to face any form of suffering to be independent”. Another main issue, though documented with less frequency, were calls relating to the basic needs of the Tamils. These were made multiple times between 1983 and 2009. They referred to multiple living conditions that the LTTE described as unacceptable. Partly the group was very specific here and described conditions such as lack of food. Yet, it also made general statements and declared that people need to “lead a life worse than animals”.

Conflict Dynamics Issues: The first conflict dynamic issues by the LTTE could be documented in 1986. In that year, the group made statements concerning collective targeting through the Government of Sri Lanka: "Our houses became our graves … our villages became cremation grounds. The Sinhalese racist demons slowly take over our ancient land. On our own soil, where we were born and have lived since time immemorial, our people are turned into refugees, into slaves; they are being destroyed." The emphasis on “Sinhalese racist demons” outlines that the LTTE saw the conflict with the Government of Sri Lanka also as an ethnic conflict between the Tamil and Sinhalese ethnicities.

The LTTE voiced a range of conflict dynamic statements over a long period of time and thus some trends can be discerned. A key issue for the group were different forms of collective targeting. The largest constant here mark statements about targeting of Tamils in general, which could be captured multiple times between 1986 and 2009. The group also made statements concerning the political targeting of LTTE members through the Government of Sri Lanka. Yet, these were voiced with less frequency, only in 2005 and 2008. The group further made a range of demands regarding decreasing or increasing foreign involvement. These were mostly documented in the 2000s, and more statements related to an increase in foreign involvement than a decrease. The group for example called for foreign mediators as a starting point for negotiations. It also expressed that a potential ceasefire could only function in case international observers would monitor it.

One clear main conflict dynamic issues could be identified for the LTTE. Most notable were the group’s statements about collective targeting against members of the Tamil ethnicity through the Government of Sri Lanka, which the group raised multiple times and called an “ongoing genocide of the Tamils”.

Conflict Resolution Issues: The first conflict resolution issue by the LTTE was documented in 1984. In that year, the group voiced opposition towards negotiating with the Government of Sri Lanka. Here, the LTTE through its chief ideologue Anton Balasingham emphasized that it was not interested in discussing federal ideas with the Government of Sri Lanka.

Over time, the group’s opposition to negotiations softened. While most statements opposing negotiations were documented in the 1980s, calls for negotiations could be coded from 1995 till 2009. LTTE also multiple times called for a ceasefire. The group furthermore made statements regarding the structure of negotiations, such as the wish to hold talks in Europe. Additionally, the group voiced skepticism and disapproval towards its own disarmament process.

Despite initial fundamental opposition to negotiations in the 1980s, the groups call for negotiations, can be seen as a main conflict resolution issue. While suspicion towards the Government of Sri Lanka remained enormous, the group repeatedly expressed a “willingness to take part in direct, unconditional talks” with the government. Another main issue, which was, however, expressed less frequently were calls for having a ceasefire. These were sometimes expressed as general calls, but also were part of conditions by the rebels who demanded that as a “goodwill gesture the government should declare a ceasefire”, along with other demands.

Type of conflict issues: *Conflict Goal Issues: * Basic needs, Children’s rights, Citizenship reforms, Constitutional issues, Corruption, CPS: Socialist state, Disband para-military forces, Economic reforms, Federalism, Freedom of expression, Freedom of movement, Gender rights, Human rights, Independence, Land reforms, Language rights, Law and order, Oust full executive, Public services, Reform judicial system

*Conflict Dynamics Issues: * Atrocities and abuses, Collective targeting: ethnic, Collective targeting: political, DFI: Removal of foreign influence, DFI: Removal of foreign mediator, DFI: Withdrawal of financial support, DFI: Withdrawal of political support, IFI: Foreign mediator, IFI: Humanitarian aid, IFI: International court/tribunal/investigation, IFI: International monitoring, IFI: Political support, IFI: Use of foreign influence, Military conduct, Release of prisoners, Return of refugees/IDPs

*Conflict Resolution Issues: * Accountability/prosecution/investigation, Call for ceasefire, Call for implementation/abiding to ceasefire, Call for negotiations, Call for truth and reconciliation processes, DDR issues, Opposition to negotiations, Opposition to peace agreement, Peace agreement implementation, Structure of negotiations

Annual information

This section contains annual information systematically collected by the UCDP.