The Sri Lankan army is headed for a final victory over the remnants of the once formidable conventional forces of the Tamil Tigers. Unlike previous military successes for the government side in the quarter century of civil war which has both blighted and brutalised the island, this one seems likely to end by depriving the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the LTTE, of any geographical base. The word “final”, of course, begs questions. A movement which can claim the grim distinction of having invented suicide bombing and other vicious techniques of modern terrorism, which retains a degree of popular support in the Tamil areas, and which still commands the allegiance of many in the Tamil diaspora, will not give up easily.

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We reproduced below a judgement made by a bench of five judges, presided over by the Chief Justice, Sarath N. Silva, of Sri Lanka, which leaves no doubt that the court wishes to nullify the impact of Sri Lanka being a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) as well as the Optional Protocol to the ICCPR.

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