Key texts and agreements

• 1947 Independence constitution
• 1951 Resolution of the All-Ceylon Buddhist Congress
• 1956 Official Language (‘Sinhala Only’) Act
• 1956 Position statement of the Federal Party
• 1957 Bandaranaike - Chelvanayakam Pact
• 1965 Senanayake - Chelvanayakam Pact
• 1966 Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Regulation
• 1972 Republican constitution
• 1976 Vaddukoddai Resolution
• 1978 Second republican constitution
• 1979 Prevention of Terrorism Act
• 1980 District Development Councils Act
• 1983 Sixth amendment to the constitution
• 1985 Thimpu principles
• 1987 Indo-Sri Lanka Accord
• 1987 13th amendment to the constitution
• 1993 Parliamentary select committee ‘Option Paper’
• 1994-95 Correspondence between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
• 1995 Cessation of Hostilities Agreement
• 1995 Devolution proposals
• 1995 Statement on devolution of the Catholic clergy and Buddhist Sangha
• 1996 Legal draft of devolution proposals
• 1997 Sinhala Commission interim report
• 1997 The draft constitution
• 1998 United National Party response to the draft constitution

Copies of many of these texts are available at www.tamilnation.org and www.eelam.com

Other suggested sources include:
Sri Lankan Ministry of Information, 34 Malay St., Colombo, tel. +94-1-545-777
All Ceylon Buddhist Congress, 380 Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Colombo, tel. +94-1-691-695

Key statements of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

• 1988 ‘An Autopsy on Autonomy: A provisional assessment of the 13th amendment to the constitution of Sri Lanka’, LTTE Political Committee
• 1993 ‘Indictment Against Sri Lanka’, LTTE Legal and Human Rights Division
• 1997 Heroes Day Speech, Vellupillai Pirabhakaran

These statements are available from:
The LTTE International Secretariat, 211 Katherine Road, London E6 1BU, tel: +44-(0)20 7403 4554

Selected Texts from the 1994-5 Negotiations Process

These pages reproduce excerpts from letters, exchanged between representatives of the Sri Lankan government the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), together with the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement signed by the government and the LTTE on 7/8 January 1995.

• Letters exchanged in August/September 1994
• Letter from Col. Anuraddha Ratwatte, Deputy Defence Minister, 7 December 1994
• Letter from V. Priabhakaran, Leader, LTTE, 8 December 1994
• Letter from Col. Anuraddha Ratwatte, Deputy Defence Minister, 13 December 1994
• Letter from V. Priabhakaran, Leader, LTTE, 15 December 1994
• Letter from Col. Anuraddha Ratwatte, Deputy Defence Minister, 19 December 1994
• Letter from V. Pirabhakaran, Leader, LTTE, 21 December 1994
• Letter from Col. Anuraddha Ratwatte, Deputy Defence Minister, 29 December 1994
• Letter from V. Priabhakaran, Leader, LTTE, 1 January, 1995
• Declaration of Cessation of Hostilities, 8 January 1995
• Letter from S. P. Tamilselvan Leader, Political Section, LTTE, 3 February 1995
• Letter from S. P. Tamilselvan Leader, Political Section, LTTE, 8 February 1995
• Letter from S. P. Tamilselvan Leader, Political Section, LTTE, 13 February 1995
• Letter from Col. Anuraddha Ratwatte, Deputy Defence Minister, 14 February 1995
• Letter from President Chandrika Kumaratunge, 16 February 1995
• Letter from V. Pirabhakaran, Leader, LTTE, 25 February 1995
• Letter from President Chandrika Kumaratunge, 9 March 1995
• Letter from V. Priabhakaran, Leader, LTTE, 16 March 1995
• Letter from President Chandrika Kumaratunge, 21 March 1995
• Letter from V. Priabhakaran, Leader, LTTE, 22 March 1995
• Letter from V. Priabhakaran, Leader, LTTE, 28 March 1995
• Letter from V. Priabhakaran, Leader, LTTE, 6 April 1995
• Letter from President Chandrika Kumaratunge, 12 April 1995
• Letter from  V. Pirabhakaran, Leader, LTTE, 18 April 1995

Benchmarks for a Future Constitutional Settlement

This section reproduces two texts which might be considered frameworks for a future constitutional settlement of the Sri Lankan armed conflict. The first is the chapter on the devolution of power from the government’s 1997 draft constitution 'The Devolution of Power to the Regions'. The second, 'A framework for the Constitution of the Union of Ceylon' is a text of no official standing which envisages a Sri Lankan confederation comprising separate southern (predominantly Sinhalese) and northeastern (predominantly Tamil) states. If and when a constitutional settlement is achieved in Sri Lanka, the agreed structure of government is likely to fall between these two markers.

Use the Accord Peace Agreement Index

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