‘Reject violence,’ jailed Tiger arms broker urges

(Stewart Bell)

A former Canadian Tamil activist who was caught brokering a $1-million arms deal for a Sri Lankan rebel group five years ago has written an open letter urging youths not to repeat his mistakes. Writing from prison in New York, Sathajhan Sarachandran acknowledged for the first time the Tamil youth organization he once ran in Toronto was “part of the LTTE,” the separatist rebels also known as the Tamil Tigers. But the 31-year-old software engineer blamed “so-called” leaders of the Tamil community whom he said misled him, fuelled his anger and hatred, promoted violence and silenced advocates of non-violence. “I only ask that you be vigilant of these people. I ask that none of you choose a path where violence is encouraged. Please don’t be a catalyst for promoting any form of violence or hate,” he wrote in the two-page letter.

The jailhouse letter, dated Aug. 9, was posted this week on the website of Mercy for Tamil Prisoners, a Markham, Ont.-based non-profit founded by families of prisoners detained on charges related to Sri Lanka’s civil war.

The war ended in 2009 after government forces defeated the rebels, but Sri Lanka remains a hot topic in Canada, home to one of the world’s largest populations of ethnic Tamils, many of whom fled the war. The letter encourages them to abandon the Tamil rebels.

“LTTE is no more. We must accept the fact and move on with the reality. I ask that all you brothers and sister to refrain from LTTE ideology,” Sarachandran wrote.

“As Tamils we must reject violence and embrace peace. … I beg you not to get trapped in the extremist ideologies.”

The letter does not indicate why, five years after his arrest, he decided to come out against violence.

Mercy for Tamil Prisoners said it was working with lawyers and officials in Canada, the United States and Sri Lanka “to exercise any potential treaty transfers” available to prisoners detained over wartime conduct.

“It’s a general letter addressed to the Tamil people of Toronto,” said Sarachandran Shunmugan, a spokesman for Mercy for Tamil Prisoners and the letter writer’s father. He said it was written with the help of his son’s New York lawyer, Lee Ginsberg.

“He is pleading with Tamil youths not to follow paths that suggest violence and to help the people whom are affected by this war.”

Sarachandran was Toronto chapter president of the Tamil Youth Organization from 2003 to 2005. He visited Sri Lanka twice and was photographed at an LTTE camp wielding a machine gun.

In 2006, he was arrested in Long Island, N.Y., while he and two other Canadians were trying to buy shoulder-launched missiles and AK-47 assault rifles for the Tigers. All pleaded guilty to terrorism and conspiracy. Sarachandran was sentenced to 26 years in prison.

Two more Canadians were arrested in Toronto in a related investigation and are awaiting extradition. A sixth goes on trial in November.

“For the past five years, I along with other fellow youths am serving sentences in New York. To add to the suffering, my family has been banned from visiting us under certain sections of the law,” Sarachandran wrote.

“I have not seen my parents for the past three years or any members of my family. I have had no visitor at all for the past three years. I write to you to explain my suffering for the path I had chosen. I regret many of my past activities. Meetings after meetings, campaign after campaign, all injecting hate into me and other fellow students.”

David Poopalapillai, a Canadian Tamil Congress spokesman, said while Sarachandran and his associates face another two decades of imprisonment in the U.S., actual rebel fighters who took up arms and fought in the war have already been set free.

He said the era of violence was over and he hoped the letter would send the right message to youths.

“It’s an undeniable fact: Some of the elements in Canada and outside Canada pushed these people into this present life. I think he is targeting that element,” he said.

The Tamil Tigers fought a lengthy war for independence for Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority. Its tactics included suicide bombings, attacks on civilians and assassinations of senior politicians. The LTTE, which had a major fundraising operation in Toronto and Montreal, was added to Canada’s list of banned terrorist organizations in 2006.

Since the war ended, several international agencies have alleged both sides committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during the final months of the conflict. A panel appointed by Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary-General, has called for an independent investigation. The Sri Lankan government has denied the allegations and refused to co-operate with investigators.

Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister, recently supported the UN call for an international probe, and said he would boycott next year’s Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka unless the country made progress on human rights.

A documentary film by Britain’s Channel 4, Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields, which alleges government forces shelled hospitals and committed extrajudicial executions, was to be screened for MPs in Ottawa on Wednesday.

National Post