Wikipedia:WikiProject Sri Lanka Reconciliation/LTTE digest

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This page provides an overview over arguments regarding LTTE's status as a terrorist organization. Members, please feel free to edit that page so that it adequately summarizes the arguments brought forward here or in related discussions.

The page originated from User:SebastianHelm/LTTE, which was created to help me understand the different opinions when SebastianHelm mediated Wikipedia:Mediation Cabal/Cases/2006-10-20 Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. It was intended as his private summary and to provide transparency for the mediation. However, he did not spend any time to make it sound nice, and especially the abbreviations are idiosyncratic. Please feel free to make this more readable; ask on the talk page if something is unclear.

Contents

[edit] Digest for the 2006-10-20 mediation

The 2006-10-20 mediation was about the question whether the intro of the LTTE article should contain a passage like "LTTE is a terrorist organization". This section lists all facts and points the mediator could find in the discussions of 2006, both in the article talk page and the mediation page.

[edit] Abbreviations and table legend

[edit] General abbreviations:

  • R = people who want the passage removed
  • K = people who want to keep the passage
  • SLG = Sri Lankan Government
  • "TT=TO" = considering or declaring LTTE a terrorist organiziation

[edit] Status:

The status column contains two characters; the first refers to statements of people who wanted the passage removed (R) and the second to people who want to keep the passage (K).

  • A = agrees
  • D = disagrees
  • a = mediator assumes they agree
  • d = mediator assumes they disagree
  • @ = agrees if it is backed up by reference

[edit] Main summary table

Information/claim status my comment
29 out of the 192 UN member states say "TT=TO" AA
29 member states are 29% of world population AA
simple statement may not be appropriate since it glosses over nuances Aa there are both R and K nuances - see list below.
proportion does not adequately reflect their status as terrorists aA This is remarkably similar to the above. See nuances list below
LTTE's goal is a separate state; they are separatist Aa
LTTE run a de facto government A@
LTTE still uses the Sri Lanka rupee Aa
many civil servants are paid by SLG Aa _ Interesting! Do they work together with LTTE?
ethics behind bringing out LTTE's changes have been shaky Aa _
We should follow WP:LEAD DA WP:LEAD says: we have to mention the section; R say: WP:IAR. Mediator agreed because R did not explain how it would improve WP to ignore this rule in this case.
We should follow the example of EB A? Encyclopedia Britannica doesn't say "TT=TO" in intro
"Terrorism" is an emotional term with no agreed upon definition A? While this may be true in general, we do have a specific definition for which personal articles to include in category:terrorists
all articles about a group banned in even one country mentions that fact in the intro DA counterexample: Continuity Irish Republican Army; R also say it's irrelevant
remove b/c redundancy with article body Ad counters WP:LEAD
what happens on one article is not a precedent for what happens on other articles A? mediator agrees
Unique Case[1] A?

[edit] Articles for comparison

List of other articles about organizations that have been proscribed: (numbers are only what Sebastian remembered)

Organization proscribed by described as terrorist by NGOs intro mentions it?
Al-Qaeda ~40 Y
Hezbollah ~2 N (intermittent)
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia US N
Continuity Irish Republican Army  ? "paramilitary"
Government of Sri Lanka 0? does not even mention State terrorism in Sri Lanka

See also Category:Designated terrorist organizations and the list on [[Talk:Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam[#Lack of Academic Peer Review]].

[edit] Nuances

There are nuances for both R and K; "Nuance for K" means: This is a nuance the K faction (keepers) would like to see. By glossing over this nuance, we owe the K faction some points. Conversely for "argument for R". The mediator's hope was that, while it's impossible to give real numbers for the points and add them up against each other, parties could reach agreement that they come close enough to be omitted in the intro.

Information/claim nuance for my comment
29% is far more than 29/192 K this seems to counterbalance the 3 R arguments, if we go with the 29/192 wording
there are reasons why countries do not declare "TT=TO", even though they may believe it K example: Sri Lanka had to agree to talks; far away countries
there are reasons why countries do declare "TT=TO", even though they may not believe it R example: Canada
29 includes 2 or 1 countries that actively fight LTTE R
UN does not ctLato R
governments don't always represent their people R
192-29 nations have ignored, not approved LTTE K
some readers may not be aware that there are as many as 192 countries in the world R
not banned by Sri Lanka R

[edit] Some proposed intros

I'm also adding my first impression; this is not a definitive statement.

  1. 29 countries have banned the LTTE

  2. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), also known as the Tamil Tigers, is a politico-military organization that has been waging a secessionist campaign against the Sri Lankan government since the 1970s in order to secure a separate state for the Tamil majority regions in the North and East of Sri Lanka. Supporters of the LTTE refer to them as freedom fighters, however some countries consider them a terrorist organisation. Sri Lanka lifted their ban on the LTTE before signing the ceasefire agreement in 2002. The LTTE is headed by its reclusive founder, Velupillai Prabhakaran.

  3. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), also known as the Tamil Tigers, is a politico-military organization that has been waging a secessionist campaign against the Sri Lankan government since the 1970s in order to secure a separate state for the Tamil majority regions in the North and East of Sri Lanka. Supporters of the LTTE refer to them as freedom fighters; however, 29 countries have listed them as a terrorist organisation. Sri Lanka lifted their ban on the LTTE before signing the ceasefire agreement in 2002. The LTTE is headed by its reclusive founder, Velupillai Prabhakaran.

  4. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), also known as the Tamil Tigers, is a politico-military organization that has been waging a secessionist campaign against the Sri Lankan government since the 1970s in order to secure a separate state for the Tamil majority regions in the North and East of Sri Lanka. Supporters of the LTTE refer to them as freedom fighters; however, 29 countries (see List) have listed them as a terrorist organisation. 161 other countries and the UN have not proscribed the LTTE. Sri Lankan government lifted the ban on the LTTE before signing the ceasefire agreement in 2002. The LTTE is headed by its 'reclusive' founder, Velupillai Prabhakaran.

  5. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), also known as the Tamil Tigers, is a politico-military organisation that has been waging a secessionist campaign against the Sri Lankan government since the 1970s in order to secure a separate state for the Tamil majority regions in the North and East of Sri Lanka. Supporters of the LTTE refer to them as freedom fighters; however 29 of the 192 countries (see list) have labeled them as a terrorist organisation. The UN has not proscribed the LTTE. The Sri Lankan government lifted the ban on the LTTE before signing the ceasefire agreement in 2002. The LTTE is headed by its 'reclusive' founder, Velupillai Prabhakaran.

  6. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), also known as the Tamil Tigers, is a politico-military organization that has been waging a secessionist campaign against the Sri Lankan government since the 1970s in order to secure a separate state for the Tamil majority regions in the North and East of Sri Lanka. Supporters of the LTTE refer to them as freedom fighters; however, 29 countries have listed them as a terrorist organisation. Sri Lanka lifted their ban on the LTTE before signing the ceasefire agreement in 2002. The LTTE is headed by its founder, Velupillai Prabhakaran.

  7. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), also known as the Tamil Tigers, is a politico-military organisation that has waged a secessionist campaign against the Sri Lankan government since the 1970s in order to secure a separate state for regions in the North and East, which contain a Tamil majority (formerly Ceylon). The sepratist group and de facto government has exhibited in the past Machiavellian, Draconian and zealous tendencies, earning them the ire of foreign nations, some even going to the extent as banning the group as terrorist. The head and founder of the LTTE is Velupillai Prabhakaran.
    • Sentence #1 & #3 sound OK, #2 contains emotive language (in both directions: first half sounds harsh on LTTE, second apologetic.)

[edit] Criteria for terrorist organizations

statement status comment
the term "terrorist" is subjective +? For our purposes, we can go by definition in category:terrorists
only when based purely on terrorism +?
only when based primarily on terrorism +?

"The term "terrorism" means premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant (1) targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience." http://www.history.navy.mil/library/guides/terrorism.htm#definition

[edit] Postponed

Other statements that we may pick up once we settled this case:

  • "The LTTE article in its current form has section for proscription it but doesn't handle it well I should add. It is not succinctly explained what the implications of the labeling means in the group of countries, hence its 'goo' a of facts littered together." Elalan