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Percentage of Sri Lankan Tamils per district based on the census from 2001 or 1981 (cursive), the last census year in Tamil regions.

Even though the LTTE was formed as a military group, it has later transformed itself to a de facto Government. The LTTE controls sections in the north of the island, especially the regions lying around the cities of Killinochchi and Mulathivu.

The LTTE has implemented a judicial system that consists of courts to adjudicate in criminal and civil matters. Currently the Tamil Eelam judicial system consists of district courts, High courts and Supreme court as well as a court of appeal. The district courts handle civil and criminal cases. The two high courts handles criminal cases such as rape, murder, treason and arson. The supreme court has jurisdiction over the whole of Tamil Eelam. The Tamil Eelam courts are said to be effective  and people who have a choice sometimes go to the Tamil Eelam courts rather than the Sri Lankan courts. LTTE also releases law books that are updated.

LTTE has also established a police force. The Tamil Eelam police is the other key factor in maintaining law and order. The Tamil Eelam police was formed in 1991 and currently has its headquarters at Killinochi.Police stations have been established in all areas that are controlled by the LTTE. The LTTE claims that their police force is the reason for the low crime rate but critics of LTTE claim that the police force is an integrated arm of the LTTE armed force and that the crime rate is low as a result of LTTE authoritarian rules. However, everyone agrees the Tamil Eelam police force and the judicial system is reason for high degree of rule of law in the areas controlled by the LTTE.

Another state function of the LTTE administration is social welfare. This humanitarian assistant arm is funded by tax collection internally .. LTTE has also established an education and health sector that offers services to the people under their control.  They have also created a human rights organization, called Northeast Secretariat on Human Rights, that functions to advocate the rights of Tamils. Though not recognized by international government it acts as a human rights commission. The commission has communicated with the LTTE regarding complaints of child recruiting which has resulted in the release of the recruit. . The Planning and Development Secretariat (PDS) was established in 2004 which acted as a needs assessment body which was responsible for studying the needs for people and formulating a plan for effective action in areas that needed humanitarian assistance. There are also many civil servants who work in the LTTE-controlled areas who are directed by the LTTE but are paid by the Sri Lankan government.. Furthermore, a customs service is also operated at the “border” by the Tamil Tigers.

In addition to the civil administration LTTE also runs its own radio and television stations. These entities are named the Voice of Tigers and National Tamil Eelam Television respectively. Both the radio and television channel are aired from the areas under LTTE control.

LTTE also runs a bank named the Bank of Tamileelam which uses the Sri Lankan rupee as its currency but offers higher rates than any bank on the island

Women in LTTE

Sothiya Regiment of the LTTE – Female soldiers

In 1984, LTTE created a unit of female squad called the Freedom Birds (Suthanthirap Paravaikal). This unit was the first group of women to be given military training in India. The LTTE advocates equality for women from both male oppression and social oppression. The support of the LTTE for equality attracted many women into the LTTE ranks. As a result LTTE became the first Tamil militant group to employ women as soldiers in the battlefield.^{[citation needed]} The main belief of the Tamil women fighter is that their participation in the armed struggle will bring them advantage in the future, peaceful society and allow them to take part in “liberating” their society. The proportion of female combatants in the LTTE was small until June 1990 but increased rapidly afterward.Freedom Birds’ first operation was in October of 1987 and the first woman combatant to die was 2nd Lt. Maalathi,on October 10, 1987, in an encounter with the IPKF at Kopai on the Jaffna peninsula. An estimated 4000 women cadres have been killed since then, including over a hundred in ‘Black Tiger’ suicide squads. Apart from military roles, the female soldiers have also produced numerous publications and many of them are described as rich in culture and writing.

Politics of Sri Lanka takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Sri Lanka is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. Since decennia the party system is dominated by the socialist Sri Lanka Freedom Party and the conservative United National Party. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The Politics of Sri Lanka reflect the historical and political differences between the two main ethnic groups, the majority Sinhala and the minority Tamils, who are concentrated in the north and east of the island.

Military of Sri Lanka

Main article: Military of Sri Lanka

The Sri Lankan Military comprises Sri Lankan Army, Sri Lankan Navy and Sri Lankan Air Force. They are under the control of the Ministry of Defence, which is currently controlled by President Mahinda Rajapaksa who also acts as Minster of Defence. The Sri Lankan Armed Forces are primarily focused on land warfare, with the Army being the oldest and largest of all the services. However, as the nation is surrounded by sea, the Navy is considered the most vital defence force. The Air Force is seen primarily as a support force for both land and naval services. Although the first commander of the army was a Tamil ( a member of the ethnic minority), in recent decades the armed forces have been recruiting personnel almost exclusively from the sinhala community. This has led to a great deal of apprehension in the Tamil community. The military has taken part in many wars throughout its history including the Boer War and both World Wars (under the command of the British at the time). Since independence, however, its primary missions have been counter-insurgency, targeting armed groups within the country, most notably the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and at one point the Sinhalese insurgent group the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna. The Sri Lankan military has apparently received training assistance from other nations such as Australia, the United Kingdom, Israel, United States, India, Pakistan and even South Africa. There have even been claims that soldiers from some of those countries have taken part in operations, but this has not been confirmed or proven. Recently, the Sri Lankan Army was chosen by the United Nations to take part in peacekeeping operations in Haiti.

The Sri Lankan armed forces have been involved in fighting the LTTE since 1983. The total number of casualties as a result of fighting over a twenty five year period is unclear, and has been downplayed by both sides in the conflict (it probably runs into the tens of thousands).

The Sri Lankan armed forces are believed to be involved in the torture, rape and extra judicial killings of numerous civilians. In spite of the efforts of Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and UNHCR the Sri Lankan government has refused to investigate any of these allegations. To date no member of the armed forces has been been charged with war crimes.

Sri Lanka war reaches crucial phase; troops zero in on Kilinochchi

Colombo, Nov 23 – The long drawn out civil war in Sri Lanka has reached a crucial phase with reports of the fighting spirit of the Tamil Tigers said to be at an ‘all time low’ after the fall of two of their strongholds even as government troops march in on the rebels’ political capital Kilinochchi.

According to Admiral Sandagiri, LTTE chief ‘- Prabhakaran believes in fighting, nothing but fighting. He cannot deviate from his original stand. The LTTE is still left with some striking capabilities, but such capabilities are badly insufficient to halt or reverse the current military successes and progresses’.

According to analysts, losing their strategic strongholds of Pooneryn in the western coast and Mankulam in southern end of areas under its control nearly after a decade has been a major blow to the LTTE, although they have moved their military resources, including heavy weapons, to safer locations.

Mankulam is located on the highway that connects the Sri Lankan mainland to Jaffna in the island’s northern tip. Pooneryn is the last major LTTE naval point on the western coastal belt, from where the rebels in the past have used their long-range artillery and mortar guns to fire at military targets in Jaffna peninsula.

After gaining control of the entire western coastal belt of over 80 km from the northwestern district of Mannar up to Pooneryn, the troops, backed by artillery and aerial bombardment, are now trying to advance towards Kilinochchi town, 350 km north of here, from various directions, despite heavy LTTE resistance and the monsoon showers.

The LTTE, fighting for a quarter century to carve out a separate state in the northeast, is facing a critical situation militarily at a time when it is preparing to commemorate its fallen cadres in the third week of November.

The week-long event ends with an annual speech by LTTE leader Prabhakaran, who will turn 54 Nov 26. His speech, usually setting out the outfit’s plans for the next year, largely carries political significance and is closely monitored locally and internationally.

Commenting on the LTTE’s fighting capability, Dharmalingham Siddharthan, the head of the ex-militant People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam -, said that it was ‘very difficult to judge the LTTE’s fighting ability at a time like this’.

‘Still I believe that they have about 3,000 battle-hardened cadres. One cannot expect them to give up so easily, although the fall of Kilinochchi, their political capital, is very imminent. It could even happen before Prabhakaran’s 54th birthday,’ former MP Siddharathan told IANS.

He, however, said that the government troops ‘taking upper hand militarily will leave the – Rajapaksa government with no option but to come out with a political solution acceptable to all the communities sooner than later’.

Siddharathan said that successive Sri Lankan governments ‘have made the LTTE an excuse and failed to come out with a just political solution.

‘Their excuse has been that the LTTE would never settle for a political solution within a united Sri Lanka and the LTTE has also been proving them correct.

‘The fall of Kilinochchi will virtually shrink the LTTE-held areas and confine them to the jungle district of Mullaitivu. With international pressure, mainly from India, the government has to come out with a reasonable and lasting political solution, adequately addressing the prolonging Tamil national question,’ he said.

The weeks ahead are going to be crucial for Sri Lanka both politically and militarily.