Date:11/03/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/03/11/stories/2006031103721400.htm

International

LTTE promulgates "Lands Act"

V.S. Sambandan

It contains provisions for distributing agricultural land

COLOMBO: The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has promulgated a "Tamil Eelam Lands Act" covering land administration in rebel-held northern and eastern Sri Lanka, a media report said.

The "Lands Act" is the latest in a line of legislations by the LTTE over the past decade.

It covers a range of subjects in "Tamil Eelam" such as "distribution of land to the landless, alienating land for public purposes, settlement of land owned by the displaced either among them or their relatives, fixing land rates," the Sudar Oli newspaper reported.

The other pieces of rebel legislation issued in the past include the "Tamil Eelam Penal Code" and the "Tamil Eelam Civil Code" promulgated in 1994. More recently, a "prescribed code" for the use of the "Tamil Eelam flag" was announced.

The "Lands Act", according to the newspaper report, contains provisions for distributing agricultural land for landless farmers, allocating land to "private individuals, NGOs and Government offices."

Contentious issue

Control over land is one of several contentious issues in Sri Lanka's decades-long separatist conflict.

Sri Lanka is administered by the Crown Lands Act, largely similar to the British system. Under the Act, the Executive President holds powers of alienating land in the entire country. The Tamil groups and political parties have been demanding rights over control and administration of land in the north-east. The LTTE's proposal for an Interim Self-Governing Authority (ISGA) for the north-east, submitted on October 31, 2003, has a provision on the administration of land.

According to the proposal, the ISGA "shall have the power to alienate land and determine the use of all land in the north-east that is not privately owned."

The LTTE's "judicial system" traces its origins to the early days of Sri Lankan Tamil militancy when the rebel group had village level "mediation boards" to settle disputes.

With the formation of the "Tamil Eelam Judiciary" and "College of Law," in 1993, the system has grown as a structure of the administration in rebel-held Sri Lanka, with at least six "district courts," two "high courts" and an "appeal court".