Understanding the National Conflict
Recognize Thamils Right to Self-Determination
V.Thangavelu
In recent weeks, the Sri Lankan government has engaged in a brutal war against Tamils in Sri Lanka. Daily artillery and aerial attacks on displaced people have aggravated an already serious situation facing Tamil civilians. In mid-January, over 300 were killed and over 1,000 were wounded—in a single day.
In early February, another 150 were killed in a single day, and remain without any medical attention. There are dead bodies everywhere. The catastrophic situation is getting worse and worse as every day passes.
Sri Lanka Army’s artillery fire on March 04 (Wednesday) inside the 'safety zone' killed 68 civilians including 21 children. Twenty three civilians were killed in artillery barrage in the morning from 5:30 to 9:00 a.m. and 47 in the evening between 5:00 and 9:00 p.m. 126 civilians have sustained injuries. High number of casualties were reported in Pokkanai and Maaththalan within the security zone. An ICRC worker who was returning to his tarpaulin tent after transporting wounded civilians to ICRC ship was killed in Pokkanai. A pregnant mother was also among the victims. (http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=28603
Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF) surveillance aircraft are circling the skies providing coordinates for the SLA to direct artillery shelling on civilians.
The Sri Lanka armed forces have been firing into “safe zones”, hospitals, and orphanages. One orphanage that came under attack by the Sri Lankan Army housed tens of Tamil children who are visually and hearing impaired. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), “hundreds of people have been killed and scores of wounded are overwhelming understaffed and ill-equipped medical facilities in Sri Lanka’s northern Vanni region. Hospitals and ambulances have been hit by shelling, and several aid workers have been injured while evacuating the wounded. “The violence is preventing the ICRC from operating in the region,” said Jacques de Maio, ICRC head of operations for South Asia in Geneva.
Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) The Sri Lankan government has prohibited Journalists, Diplomats, Aid Agencies and Human Rights monitors from going to the battle zone in the Vanni while escalating a genocidal war against the Tamils without witnesses.
New York based 'Human Rights Watch' (HRW) has said in a report released on 19th February, 2009 that "Sri Lankan forces are shelling hospitals and so-called safe zones and slaughtering the civilians there." James Ross, legal and policy director at HRW added: "Sri Lankan forces have repeatedly and indiscriminately shelled areas crowded with displaced persons. This includes numerous reported bombardments of government-declared "safe zones" and of the remaining hospitals in the region."
The HRW report says Sri Lankan government forces have repeatedly and indiscriminately shelled areas crowded with Tamil civilians and casualties have skyrocketed in the past two months. Noting that civilian casualties "have risen dramatically since the LTTE retreated to a roughly 100-square-kilometer area in northeastern Mullaitivu district, HRW said Sri Lanka military attacks on civilians include "numerous reported bombardments of government-declared "safe zones" and the remaining hospitals in region."
HRW places total civilian casualties at 7,000, with 2,000 deaths, in two / three weeks adding "information from other sources supports these findings." "Added to this are the dire hardships faced by the displaced-insufficient food, medical care, and shelter, whether in the combat zone or government-run 'welfare villages'" HRW said.
The GoSL has indicated that the ethnic Tamil population trapped in the war zone can be presumed to be siding with the LTTE and treated as combatants, effectively sanctioning unlawful attacks," HRW said.
This is a devious and frightening proposition. There are reliable reports that SLAF is planning a holocaust of Sri Lankan Tamils. The devious ploy appears to be to down-play the number of civilians 'trapped in the war zone'. International Agencies and Humanitarian groups estimate that IDPs trapped in the 'war zone' number over 250,000, but GoSL is deliberately under-playing it by putting the numbers at 70,000. India's External Affairs Minister has endorsed this figure without verifying facts.
GoSL has stated that about 35,000 IDPs have already escaped the war zone. In the next few days they will claim that all the 70,000 has got away from the war zone leaving only the LTTE there. GoSL would then 'sanction the unlawful attacks' as predicted by HRW. Actually there are over 250,000 Tamils in the 100-square-kilometer strip.
This attack will be carried out by the massive force of over 60,000 Sri Lankan troops supported by Artillery, Tanks and Air Force. Result would be a human carnage of unimaginable proportions that could number over 100,000! This is not based on imaginary fear, but conveyed by independent and reliable sources that have first-hand knowledge of the situation obtaining in the war zone. And this holocaust is imminent.
Shortages of food, water and medical supplies.
Tamil civilians both inside and outside the war zone suffer severe shortages of food, water, medicine and basic medical care. World Food Programme (WFP) is the primary supplier of food, but its access to the war zone has been curtailed by the GoSL. But after much international pressure on the government, a food caravan was allowed into the LTTE-controlled area (the Vanni) on February 19 containing 30 tons or an estimated 100 grams per person/ per day, which is grossly inadequate. At the same time, the available food and water at the government’s IDPs camps is also grossly inadequate. UNICEF has had emergency feeding centers for children who are grossly underweight and facing death by starvation.
Voice of America reports a food crisis among the quarter million displaced persons in the combat zone, where the government rarely allows access to UN and other aid groups, and the Council of NGOs of Mullaitivu District reports similar shortages of blood and medical supplies. Latest reports claim that some people died from starvation.
On January 16, 2008, the Government of Sri Lanka unilaterally abrogated the
ceasefire agreement signed with the LTTE that was in force since
2002.Thereafter, the Sri Lankan government commenced an aggressive military
campaign against innocent Tamil civilians in the North and East of Sri Lanka.
Since hostilities began, the GoSL has systematically targeted Tamil civilians,
their properties and civil infrastructure. Schools, hospitals, commerce
centres, temples and churches have become the targets of Sri Lanka’s armed
forces indiscriminate bombing campaigns.
The GoSL decision to expel international and local non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) from providing relief to more than 250,000 IDPs have
created a humanitarian crisis that needs urgent intervention. The embargo on
food, medicine and tents by the GoSL has worsened their plight.
The GoSL has denied access to all local and foreign media. The few media that
are attempting to bring the plight of Tamils in the war zone are either killed,
arrested, forced to flee, intimidated or issued death threats.
GoSL has shown no willingness to end its aggression against Thamils. It has rejected out of hand the call by India’s Foreign Minister to ceasefire to allow safe passage to those still in the war zone.
Sadly, the international community has done little to stop the GoSL from committing genocide against the Tamils. United Nations seem indifferent to this crisis. Canada has done little to address the humanitarian crisis engulfing Vanni.
The persecution of the Tamils by the GoSL began almost simultaneously as the
British left in 1948. Armed resistance did not begin until 1983, after decades
of government abuse and the failure of all attempts at peaceful resolution my
moderate Thamil leaders. It is not accurate to suggest that this civil war
between two sides are equally worthy of blame.
US Senator Patrick Leahy said "The origins of the conflict arise from decades of
the Sinhalese majority's systematic discrimination against the Tamil minority,
and its denial of the Tamils' meaningful participation in the political
process." (See the whole statement at:
http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200902/020309d.html )
The Bush administration called this Sri Lankan civil war - a war on terror. This
perception is totally incorrect. It gave the GoSL ammunition and the excuse to
attack the Tamils under the charade of fighting terrorism. This war started as a
response to government terror backed by military force. The LTTE arose as a
justifiable armed resistance to protect Thamils from genocide. It is the only
countervailing force to unbridle state terrorism unleashed on Thamils.
GoSL is forcing refugees into what it calls "welfare camps" but which are in
fact concentration camps. The British Guardian newspaper reports that Sri Lanka
armed forces and associated paramilitary groups forcibly conscript young men and
women from among the refugees. "Young men in the refugee camps can be taken at
any time. Not only by the army but by other groups too, paramilitary groups.
They come at night and take them." (Guardian Weekly, 02/04/09 whole story at:
http://www.guardianweekly.co.uk/?page=edit...918&catID=6 )
Tamil Net reports forced abortions on pregnant Tamil women. The Toronto Globe
and Mail reports "disappeared" refugees in the camps and "Sinhalization" of the
property of Tamil inmates.
Attorney Bruce Fein in a written
statement has accused GoSL of perpetrating genocide against Tamils. His
testimony says: "All previous well-known genocides which have occurred since the
end of World War II have been characterized by a massive number of murders in a
small defined locality occurring in a short time period and carried out by an
actor seeking the total physical extermination of a particular ethnic group. The
post-1945 genocide cases often cited are: the Holocaust, the Kurds in Iraq, the
Srebrenica massacre, and Rwanda.
"By contrast, Sri Lanka’s genocide against Tamils has taken place over a number of years and is more characterized by widespread, prolonged displacement and destruction of the community’s physical and cultural base than murder. For this and also wider geopolitical reasons, the destruction of the Sri Lankan Tamils is less well-understood in the world at large as a case of genocide."
Britain’s Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, agreed Tuesday with parliamentarians who said that the Sri Lankan government is “quite prepared to go ahead with acts of genocide.” Responding to Mr. Elfyn Llwyd, MP, Mr. Miliband said “the resolution of a terrorist problem cannot be achieved at the expense of the rights of minority communities in Sri Lanka, and that is what we are trying to work on.” GoSL arrogantly and with cynical defiance rejected the appointment of Special Envoy to Sri Lanka, former Defence Minister and Secretary of State for Scotland, Des Browne.
At a discussion on Sri Lanka in
the British Parliament Tuesday, Mr. Lloyd expressed concern that a humanitarian
catastrophe was unfolding in Vanni. “Some of the signals coming from the Sri
Lankan Government imply that they are quite prepared to go ahead with acts of
genocide,” he said. [TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 February
2009, 13:53 GMT]
Dr. Rachel Joyce, Conservative Party (UK) apologised last
Sunday (March 04) for the error of Colonial Britain in making a unitary Ceylon
out of two nations, the Tamils and the Sinhalese.
At a meeting held at Harrow, where Bruce Fein, a constitutional expert from the
United States was the guest speaker Dr.Rachel Joyce continued “Acts such as this
suicide are committed when people feel desperate, powerless, and feel they have
virtually no avenues left for their people.
“The Tamil people have lived on the island currently called Sri Lanka for
millennia - in their own contiguous, distinct, geographical territory. They lay
claim only to the territory they have historically lived in. In fact, the 3
million Tamils of the island constituted a self governing nation until invaded
and occupied by Colonial powers – in particular Britain, who amalgamated them
with the Sinhala nation purely for convenience. In
retrospect, this cultural naivety was a mistake that has caused problems since
independence. I would like to apologise for the British part in that error.
At the time of independence in 1948, both 3 million Tamils and 17 million
Sinhalese inherited a reasonably stable state. Sri Lanka’s prosperity could have
been set, with a good geographical position for trade, a strong and productive
economy, and a beautiful setting for a tourist industry as well.
Unfortunately, since then there has been an increasing catalogue of cultural and
human rights atrocities. The chances for the two peoples to continue to live
side by side, as two distinct, though not antagonistic cultures, have
continually been threatened. Why did the government on the island, as one of its
first acts, make 1 million Tamils of Indian origin stateless? Many of these
Tamils were 6th generation and had no other home. Why also did they opt for the
‘Sinhala Only’ Language Act in 1956?
And, 25 years later, what could possibly be the logic of Sinhala police torching
the Jaffna library and its ninety seven thousand rare historical books and
manuscripts in 1981.
These acts of cultural disrespect and vandalism have been condemned before, but
I condemn them again now.
Since then a raft of atrocities have been committed. In the 1980s, hundreds of
thousands of Tamils were forced to flee the island, many coming here to Britain.
There are also hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people within the
island. Every aspect of normal life has been affected. The closing of the A9
highway effectively trapped nearly half a million Tamil civilians.
A year ago, the Sri Lankan government unilaterally withdrew from the
Norwegian-brokered ceasefire, and under the leadership of its hawkish President,
Mahinda Rajapaksa, embarked on this current campaign. All the evidence suggests
that unless the international community acts very soon, about a quarter of a
million people could be caught in a bloodbath. The Sri Lankan government has
asked Tamil civilians to come over to their side for “protection”, but there is
an understandably deep fear of such a move. The Tamil people have seen so much
death and destruction. They are terrified of Sri Lankan troops and their
"holding camps" with all the stories of assaults and rape.
The Sri Lankan government restricts all journalists and independent observers
from entering the conflict zone. The reports from the few remaining aid or
humanitarian agencies still allowed in the area are dismissed by the Sri Lankan
authorities as propaganda.
Amnesty International, which is impartial to any political agenda and only
campaigns on human rights, has called the recent alleged sustained bombing of
the Vanni hospital a “despicable act”, in fact stating that such an attack could
constitute a war crime. They also say the so called ‘welfare villages’ violate
the international prohibition on hostage taking.
Can Amnesty International and United Nations workers all be lying? Are the
horrific pictures of bombed-out hospitals and lines of dead men, women and
children all be fake?
It is clear that the majority of the Tamil people do not trust the Government of
Sri Lanka to safeguard their lives or their futures.
And the British government could do much more to help. This is not just
diplomatically – in the UN, in the Commonwealth, and through direct pressure on
the government. In a debate in 2007, it was revealed that Britain licensed £7
million worth of weapons and military equipment for export to Sri Lanka that
year alone. What on earth were they thinking?
Part of the problem here ironically is the democracy in Sri Lanka. I am a strong
supporter of democracy, but there are different degrees of democracy. The
Economist labels Sri Lanka a "flawed democracy" in its 2006 rankings. This is
because there is a minority – the Tamils – who will always be at a significant
disadvantage electorally. If Scotland wanted to leave the United Kingdom, and
voted to do so, they would not be stopped by the rest of the British people.
Perhaps the very fact that they could leave if they wished to has meant that
their minority rights have always been protected in the UK, and is probably the
reason that Scotland do not actually want to leave the union.
Foreign Policy ranks Sri Lanka 25th (ie Alert Category) in its Failed States
Index for 2007. Sri Lanka was considered one of the "world's most politically
unstable countries" by the World Bank and Asian Development Bank in 2004.
However, Sri Lanka, according to the US State Department in 2005, was classified
a "stable democracy" – but only when there was a ceasefire period, which shows
how a peaceful solution could be so advantageous to both sides.”
http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=28569
We, therefore, call up on the UN, the International Community and Canada:
To call for an immediate ceasefire in Sri Lanka and initiate peace talks between the GoSL and LTTE;
Ask Sri Lanka to allow all necessary humanitarian assistance and access by international humanitarian organizations and UN Agencies to the Vanni war zone;
Place the Sri Lanka issue on the Security Council to impose economic sanctions on Sri Lanka;
Urge the Government of Sri Lanka to allow an international human rights monitoring mission under the auspices of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Hold a UN supervised referendum to ascertain the political aspirations of Thamils; and
Recognize Thamils demand for the right of self-determination.
Thamils demand the right to self-determination in order to freely decide their
political destiny. Thamils want to live as
equals with security, peace and dignity.
Through the power of our voice, let us open the eyes of the world, break the
shackles of our oppression, and forge the foundations of liberty and equality.