Norwegian NGO used by LTTE, also delivered arms to an insurgency in
Sudan
(By: Walter Jayawardhana)
 Norwegian
People's Aid - One of Norway's biggest non-government organizations
which is alleged used by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for
its terrorist activities is also learnt was accused of secretly
smuggling in weapons for at least another insurgency in Sudan in the
past, according to Ministry of Defence sources.
Several political parties in Sri Lanka, in the past,
have accused the Norwegian government of using its aid outlets like Red
Barna, to aid the LTTE. The Norway government has been accused of
training covertly the LTTE frogmen in underwater warfare at secret
locations in Thailand in the past.
This is in addition to the powerful broadcasting and
military communication station the Norwegians more overtly granted the
LTTE, through the clearance of the 2002-2004 government. The Norwegians
working in the ceasefire-monitoring mission were alleged openly engaged
in pro-LTTE activities during the Mavil Aru crisis(2006).
The website of the NGO which is currently
controversial declares:
"Norwegian People's Aid is a voluntary humanitarian
organization, which has deep roots in the labor movement struggle for
political freedom, social and economic freedom, equal rights and
cultural growth. It is a value-based organization, which stands up for
the oppressed and poor. The premise of NPA's undertakings is based on
five values: Unity, Solidarity, Human dignity, Peace and Freedom."
According to other reports it was established in 1939
and the Norwegian intelligence services are suspected to be involved in
the NGO to aid foreign insurgencies in the past.
"The Norwegian People's Aid, earlier has been accused
of smuggling in with its humanitarian aid arms, ammunition and landmines
for a Sudanese insurgent group by air - a group accused of some of the
worst human rights violations like the LTTE despite the group's
de-mining activities elsewhere.
"The European Sudanese Public Affairs Council charged
the aid agency of supplying arms and ammunition to the insurgent group
Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) :
"Norwegian People's Aid had became involved in Sudan
in 1986, and almost immediately began providing support to the SPLA, and
its 'humanitarian' wing, the Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation
Association. There had always been speculation as to whether Norwegian
People's Aid was involved in the supply of war material to the southern
rebels, and this documentary confirmed that NPA had for several years
organised an air-bridge for the supply of weapons to battle zones within
Sudan under the supervision of its Nairobi office. One of the NPA pilots
involved in the gun running, Svein Kristiansen, stated, that his plane
had landed at SPLA bases with some 2.5 tons of weapons.
It was stated that between 80-100 tons of arms were
carried to the Nuba mountains and elsewhere in NPA-controlled airplanes
supposedly carrying humanitarian assistance.
Another Norwegian People's Aid pilot, interviewed by
the documentary makers, related how when he began working for NPA he
believed that he would be flying NPA humanitarian assistance into the
Nuba mountains. He then realised that NPA was also transporting weapons,
including land-mines, into Sudan:
The purpose was to fly aid, blankets, medicine, food,
clothing etc. from Lokichokio up to the Nuba mountains to the people
there that didn't have anything. That was the main purpose that we
served there. That was also my understanding of what we would be doing
when I arrived in Lokichokio. And to my surprise we ended up flying more
than just aid. We did some other trips where we took off from Lokichokio
empty, and we picked up crates, boxes, and so forth, of ammunition,
weapons, and other things, and flew it up to the Nuba mountains so that
they could fight the war they had going up there.
They were mostly ammunitions, and arms, also some
anti-aircraft weapons. And I found out later that there was also
land-mines in quite a few of the boxes.
Pressed by the interviewer on how he could be sure the
cargo contained land-mines, the pilot stated that there would be papers
stating what was in the cargo and how much everything weighed. The crew
would check the manifest as well as the cargo to make sure it was the
same weight in order to know how heavy the plane would be when it left
the ground. The pilot also stated that out of curiosity he had opened up
several of the boxes and had "looked in them and saw what was there".
"The callousness shown by Norwegian People's Aid in
cold-bloodedly supplying land-mines to war zones in Sudan must be
measured against NPA's official position with regard to land-mines and
their use, stating that they are a "deadly legacy killing and maiming
innocents everyday". NPA is also ostensibly committed to advocacy work
with regard to land-mines, and, for example, is a member of the
Coordinating Committee of the International Campaign to ban Landmines.
"The above-mentioned Norwegian documentary also
provided evidence that Norwegian People's Aid's involvement in actively
assisting and facilitating the SPLA's military activities dated back to
the 1980s. In September 1989, for example, the Norwegian Red Cross
offered the International Committee of the Red Cross a large barge
funded by the Norwegian government.
The barge, with a cargo capacity of up to 60 tons,
arrived in July 1990 and was soon in place on the Nile. It had been
intended to use this barge for the delivery of food aid by river. NPA
was allowed to take responsibility for the operation of the barge. The
documentary also showed that the SPLA had clearly used the river barge
for military purposes, including the transport of hundreds of SPLA
soldiers in order for them to engage in fighting elsewhere - all this
with the active assistance of NPA.
Norwegian People's Aid's activities in Sudan had led
to the Norwegian government commissioning COWI, an independent
consultancy, to investigate NPA's use of the considerable funds it had
received from the Norwegian government. The report, entitled Evaluation
of Norwegian Humanitarian Assistance to the Sudan, documented that
Norwegian and similar relief funds were being used to support SPLA
soldiers, and thus prolonging the conflict. The report stated, for
example, that by the early 1990s Norwegian People's Aid:
Began to adopt more closely the aims of the SPLA and
developed from 1992 a growing field presence. The report went on to
state:
NPA's intervention is that of a solidarity group. It
has taken a clear side in the war. It supports the causes of SPLA/M and
its humanitarian wing SRRA. NPA's solidarity approach means that in
practice the activities of NPA are closely related to the political and
military strategies of the rebel movement.
"The report placed on record that Norwegian People's
Aid's humanitarian activities were said to "support the political and
military struggle of the SPLA/M". With regard to whether the NPA was
directly supplying the SPLA with food, the report stated that:
Many sources, including some within the NPA confirm
that food relief has also been used to feed SPLA troops. A 1995 USAID
audit, for example, revealed that in early 1995 some 200 metric tons of
sorghum, valued at about US $100,000, and under NPA control, was
diverted to feed SPLA soldiers.
Documentation in this example relating to the
diversion of aid had been "fraudulently stamped" by SRRA officials. The
report spoke of "other cases showing insufficient control". The report
stated that:
The food relief supplied by NPA has been extremely
important to the SPLA which managed to sustain its position as a strong
rebel movement.
The Danish media further reported that Norwegian
People's Aid had allowed the SPLA to sell emergency aid in order to
purchase weapons of war.
Norwegian aid funds were also diverted to buy the SPLA
food, houses and cars, and to was pay for the schooling of the children
of SPLA officers.
The report also made it clear that Norwegian People's
Aid may have increased the level of tension in parts of southern Sudan.
The support of NPA to the higher levels of the SPLA
has reinforced the tendency of SPLA to rely on its own external
diplomacy to obtain critical resources, such as food, rather than
seeking the support of the indigenous populations of the areas where it
operates. There has been a marked lack of interface between the SPLA's
higher ranks and the "traditional" chiefs and governance structures of
the tribes, particularly the Equatorian tribes.
"The report also examined the NPA's position with
regard to working towards a peaceful solution to the Sudanese civil war.
It was stated that the NPA did not see:
The reduction of violence in the Sudan as [its] main
objective. It was not considered appropriate for a "solidarity".organisation
like NPA. The cause of the SPLA, as expressed by John Garang and his
leadership group, is just according to the NPA. The prevention of
conflict, in this context, is entirely subordinated to the pursuit of
partisan advantages.
In December 1999, Human Rights Watch stated that:
The SPLA has a history of gross abuses of human rights
and has not made any effort to establish accountability. Its abuses
today remain serious.
Human Rights Watch has pointed to summary executions,
arbitrary arrests and food aid theft from civilians in famine areas by
the SPLA. Established and respected humanitarian organisations such as
CARE, Save the Children, World Vision, Church World Service and the
American Refugee Committee have jointly stated that the SPLA is guilty
of "the most serious human rights abuses". The BBC has reported growing
friction in SPLA-controlled areas of southern Sudan, specifically within
Didinga areas: "The Didinga have accused the SPLA of becoming an army of
occupation in the area."
These are the very areas in which Norwegian People's
Aid is active. It is obvious that NPA and the money which supports it,
is helping to artificially sustain the SPLA in these and other areas of
"occupation". Without the support of external forces such as Norwegian
People's Aid, the SPLA would have had to negotiate an end to a
stalemated conflict.
It is clear that Norwegian People's Aid serves not
merely as a propaganda adjunct to the SPLA, but also as an organisation
willingly involved in the supply of weapons and war material to southern
rebels. It nutures a deeply unpleasant organisation, and helps
perpetuate Sudan's civil war.
The activities of NPA have done a great disservice to
all genuine humanitarian organisations active in Sudan. Their activities
have highlighted the need for aid agencies to operate within the United
Nations-managed Operation Lifeline Sudan. NPA's military aid to the SPLA
has made the Sudanese government all the more suspicious of those groups
that do not."
These accusations appeared in the website:
http://www.espac.org/norwegian_pages/norwegian_aid.asp
The website also said : "A November 1999 Norwegian
television documentary, entitled 'Weapons Smuggling in Sudan', has
highlighted the role played by some aid agencies in logistically and
politically perpetuating the Sudanese civil war. The documentary clearly
outlined the actions of Norwegian People's Aid (NPA) in supplying the
Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) with weapons in the course of the
Sudanese civil war in the 1990s."
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