SLMM
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The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission - SLMM, was established on February 22, 2002 by the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam LTTE. SLMM consists of members from the five Nordic countries, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland. The SLMM mandate is to monitor the cease fire between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government.
SLMM has its Headquarters in Colombo, and has six District Offices (DO)in the North and East: Mannar, Jaffna, Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Ampara and Vavuniya, as well as a Liaison Office in Killinochchi. There are also two naval monitoring teams, one in Jaffna and one in Trincomalee. In addition, SLMM has established Points of Contact (PoC) within the district offices. The PoCs expand the possibility to establish contact with the local population and for SLMM to be more accessible.
The SLMM DO’s operates mobile units and performs extensive patrolling in SLMM Area of Responsibility (AOR). Moreover the SLMM inquires into both parties' complaints regarding the cease fire. The six SLMM DOs define AOR geographically, while the Area of Operation (AOO) includes all of Sri Lanka.
The SLMM is currently staffed with about 60 monitors, and is headed by the Norwegian Brigadier Hagrup Haukland. The organisation has received critique from various sides of the conflict for not being impartial and for appeasing the parties.
However the general opinion from the international community seems to be that the SLMM is of vital importance for keeping the fragile cease fire. As a monitoring mission the SLMM is not involved in the Norwegian government's facilitation of the peace talks.
External links
- The cease fire agreement between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government (http://www.peaceinsrilanka.org/insidepages/Agreement/agceasefire.asp)
- Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission Official Website (http://www.slmm.lk/)
- Sri Lanka Government Official Peace Process Website (http://www.peaceinsrilanka.org/)
- LTTE Peace Secretariat (http://www.lttepeacesecretariat.com/)
- UTHR - a website rather sceptical about the SLMM's role in the peace process (http://www.uthr.org/)