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Letter to Rt. Hon Priti Patel, MP, Secretary of State for the Home Department, Great Britain:

Priti Patel

17 November 2020

Dear Mrs Patel MP

We, the undersigned, write to request that you deproscribe the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) following the judgement on 21 October 2020 by the Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission (‘POAC’), allowing the appeal brought by the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) against the decision by your predecessor, Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP to continue the ban on the LTTE.

On 21 October 2020. POAC found the Home Secretary’s decision not to deproscribe the LTTE to be flawed and allowed the TGTE’s appeal. POAC found that the information presented to the then Home Secretary when he made his decision to maintain the LTTE on the list of proscribed organisations “materially misstated” the conclusions reached by the Proscription Review Group. POAC also found that the submission “inaccurately” summarised the views of JTAC (the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre). POAC considered these to be a “serious concern” and therefore held that the decision to maintain the LTTE on the list of proscribed organisations was unlawful and went on to allow the appeal.

With respect to the remedy, the TGTE argues that the Home Secretary should immediately remove the LTTE from the list of banned organisations. We understand the Home Secretary argues to revert the matter to her to review that decision.

In case the matter reverted to you to review the proscription of the LTTE, we strongly urge the Home Secretary to remove the LTTE from the list of proscribed organisations for the following reasons:

By designating one party to the conflict a terrorist organisation, the UK undermines its credibility as a neutral player able to play a role in (a) securing accountability for grave crimes committed against Tamils during the armed conflict, and (b) facilitating a resolution to the conflict between the Sinhalese and Tamil people of the island.

- Thiagu

 (This article was published in Fortnightly Magazine 'Abel', December 20, 2020)


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