The Sri Lankan Government on Tuesday banned 16 groups operating overseas over their alleged links with terrorism, the Ministry of Defence said.
Defence Ministry and military spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya said that the ban was enforced under a UN Security Council resolution 1373 which was implemented following the September 2001 terrorist attack in the United States.
He said that apart from the Tamil Tiger rebels, the government has listed 15 other groups operating overseas who are keen on having a separate in Sri Lanka.
Among those listed are the Global Tamil Forum, the British Tamils Forum and the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam, two influential Tamil Diaspora groups operating in Britain and the United States. “Under the ban legal action will be taken against anyone having links with those groups,” he said.
The ban also lists four influential Tamil Diaspora activists, Perinbanayagam Sivaparan alias Nediyavan, Reverend Father S.J Emmanuel, Visuvanathan Ruthirakumaran and Sekarampillai Vinayakamoorthy.
The move comes after most of these groups had been successful in their heavily funded campaigns to convince foreign countries to back a US-sponsored resolution at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva last week.
The UN Human Rights Council was meanwhile informed by the Sri Lankan government that the Tamil Tigers were regrouping in the North of Sri Lanka following the end of the a 30 year war with the defeat of the rebels in May 2009. (Xinhua)
List of groups banned by Sri Lanka
01. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam a.k.a LTTE
02. Tamil Rehabilitation Organization a.k.a TRO
03. Tamil Coordinating Committee a.k.a TCC
04. British Tamil Forum a.k.a BTF
05. World Tamil Movement a.k.a WTM
06. Canadian Tamil Congress a.k.a CTC
07. Australian Tamil Congress a.k.a ATC
08. Global Tamil Forum a.k.a GTF
09. National Council Of Canadian Tamils a.k.a NCCT
10. Tamil National Council a.k.a TNC
11.Tamil Youth Organization a.k.a TYO
12. World Tamil Coordinating Committee a.k.a WTCC.
13. Transnational Government Of Tamil Eelam a.k.a TGTE
14. Tamil Eelam Peoples Assembly a.k.a TEPA
15 .World Tamil Relief Fund a.k.a WTRF
16. Headquarters Group a.k.a HQ Group
