SCOPP had its usual quarterly meetings with its Local Monitors from the six districts of Ampara, Batticaloa, Jaffna, Mannar, Trincomalee & Vavuniya in the middle of July. A feature of this meeting was the presence by invitation of Anne Sender, Operations Manager of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission. Ms Sender has been appointed to liaise with SCOPP, and welcome the opportunity to interact with the Local Monitors and discuss their problems.

According to the Ceasefire Agreement, each district should have a Local Monitoring Committee consisting of two GOSL members and two members from the LTTE as well, chaired by the SLMM International Monitor. The LMC meetings are supposed to be held every month, so as to prepare a detailed report on all CFA violations in the respective districts. However, following the withdrawal of SLMM International Monitors from most districts, these meetings were not held. In some districts there has been no interaction with the GOSL Local Monitors since August 2006, which has hindered the fulfillment of their duties. These problems arose because the SLMM had to suffer grave reductions in staffing following the refusal of the LTTE to accept EU monitors. This has also led to an increase in ceasefire violations.

The recent meeting was very fruitful as the monitors bought up in detail various problems faced in their respective districts, and stated that the adverse situation was mainly due to the non-availability of the SLMM International Monitors in their districts. Though in theory the SLMM offices remained open with local staff, there had been little interaction, and in some cases the GOSL monitors had been denied information. Ms Sender mentioned that this was not acceptable and it would not occur in future. Local staff would be reminded that GOSL monitors were an essential part of the process. In any case the situation was likely to improve since SLMM had received more international monitors and was planning to hold regular meetings.

The LMC members also stated that the public were not coming forward to submit their complaints as they seemed to have lost faith in the LMC and its members. SCOPP mentioned that it would try to institute a weekly meeting chaired by the GA, to be attended also by the Army Civil Liaison officer in the district. In addition to the GOSL monitors, the LTTE monitors should also be invited to these meetings, where problems should be raised. Reports should be submitted to SCOPP as well as to the SLMM. The SLMM was requested to facilitate this process.

The Monitors raised various problems, and in particular the question of restrictions on fishing. It was agreed that security measures were essential in the current situation, but these should be implemented through clear procedures that minimized inconvenience. SCOPP mentioned that the police had agreed to facilitate complaints, which could be made through citizens committees that had been duly recognized. Local Monitors were requested to set up such committees or use existing ones to ensure that relevant information came to the attention of the authorities and was recorded.