The SLMM organisation

 

The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) is an autonomous independent and impartial organisation that conducted field operations in Sri Lanka from March 2002 until February 2008. After the end of its operation, the SLMM has continued to exist as an organisation, in order to complete administrative tasks before the final termination of the mission.

The SLMM was created as a unique instrument to monitor the CFA. It was established by the Parties, through the agreement, in February 2002, and commenced its operation in March 2002.

 

Nordic endeavour

The organisation has been a joint Nordic endeavour, with the political and financial backing from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. The SLMM was manned by civilian monitors from the five Nordic countries. In August 2006, however, the monitors from the three member states of the European Union (EU) were pulled out, following a declaration from one of the Parties to the CFA, the LTTE, that monitors from EU member states were no longer accepted, and that it no longer could guarantee the safety of these monitors. The move by the LTTE followed a previous decision of the EU, of May 2006, to proscribe the LTTE as a terrorist organisation.

After the withdrawal of monitors from Denmark, Finland, and Sweden, the SLMM was manned by Iceland and Norway only. As a result, and as of 1 September 2006, the mission was reduced roughly by half, from 60 to about 30 monitors. As a consequence of these changes, the SLMM regrouped temporarily in Colombo, before subsequent redeployment to the districts. These changes also called for a change of Head of Mission (HOM), another Norwegian replacing the only Swedish HOM (Ulf Henricsson). Altogether, the SLMM has been under the command of five HOMs:  Trond Furuhovde; Trygve Tellefsen; Hagerup Haukland; Ulf Henricsson; Lars J. Sølvberg.

  

Continuous adjustments

During the operational period, the SLMM sought to fulfill its mandate in the best possible way whilst ensuring the security and safety of its staff. In so doing, the SLMM continuously assessed security and maintained operational flexibility, and continuously adjusted to the changing situation in Sri Lanka during its deployment in the country.

Basically, the SLMM was organised with a Headquarters (HQ) in Colombo, and six District Offices (DOs) – in Ampara, Batticaloa, Jaffna, Mannar, Trincomalee, and Vavuniya, in accordance with the CFA. In addition a Liaison Office operated in Kilinochchi, and Points of Contact (PoC) were also established. The offices were kept open during the whole operation.

Major conflict developments made it necessary for the SLMM on several occasions to make structural and operational adjustments. These included relocating offices and accommodation, self-imposed restrictions of movement and the suspension of Naval Monitoring; closing down its naval teams (in Jaffna and Trincomalee) in May 2006, a decision based on security assessments.

Following a further escalation of hostilities during 2006, the SLMM regrouped for a series of internal deliberations in Negombo in December that year, effectively pulling all monitors out of the districts, although keeping the DOs open, manned by national staff, and the HQ operational. By mid 2007, monitors were redeployed to the DOs, running the operation until January 2008, when it ceased altogether following the abrogation of the CFA. During the time in Negombo, the SLMM deployed Rapid Response Teams (RRT) to incident sites when required, and conducted regular visits to the respective districts in the form of Presence in District (PID) teams.

Most SLMM monitors left Sri Lanka in the latter part of January 2008; with just a small team staying behind for a few additional weeks to carry out the Sri Lanka based administrative termination. The HOM was the last member of the SLMM to leave Sri Lanka, on 20 February