EU relists LTTE

The European Union (EU) has relisted the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) following a comprehensive review of listed terrorist groups. The announcement was made through Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 83/2011 of 31 January 2011, published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

The EU terrorist listings made in terms of article 2(3) of Council Regulation (EC) No. 2580/2001 of 27 December 2001 on specific restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities with a view to combating terrorism, proscribes organisations listed operating in EU member countries and freezes their assets.

By way of notices published in the Official Journal of the European Union in July 2010, “the Council informed the persons, groups and entities listed in Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 610/2010 that it had decided to keep them on the list. The Council also informed the persons, groups and entities concerned that it was possible to request a statement of the Council’s reasons for putting them on the list where one had not already been communicated to them. In the case of five groups, an amended statement of reasons was made available in November 2010”.

The LTTE is relisted among 26 Groups and Entities, on the determination that they “have been involved in terrorist acts within the meaning of Article 1(2) and (3) of Council Common Position 2001/931/CFSP of 27 December 2001 on the application of specific measures to combat terrorism, that a decision has been taken with respect to them by a competent authority within the meaning of Article 1(4) of that Common Position, and that they should continue to be subject to the specific restrictive measures provided for in Regulation (EC) No. 2580/2001.”

The announcement published in the Official Journal of the European Union states that “the Council has carried out a complete review of the list of persons, groups and entities to which Regulation (EC) No. 2580/2001 applies, as required by Article 2(3) of that Regulation. When doing so it took account of observations submitted to the Council by those concerned”.