கனடாப் பாராளுமன்றத்தில் இலங்கைப்பிரச்சனை பற்றிய கருத்துக்கள்

Hon. Albina Guarnieri (Mississauga East—Cooksville, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, recent attacks on civilians by the Sri Lankan armed forces have reached a level of atrocity. In Mannar, navy troops lobbed hand grenades into a Catholic church where hundreds of refugees were huddled. Last week the Sri Lankan army raided a Tamil home, leaving the family hacked to death, with their seven and nine year old children hanged and disembowelled in a manner aimed to terrorize the local population.

When will the government protest the latest wave of military atrocities in Sri Lanka?

Mr. Deepak Obhrai (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, CPC): Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada is extremely concerned with the breakup of ceasefire and peace talks between the warring parties in Sri Lanka. We are calling on both parties to come back to the table, to come back to a truce and adhere to the ceasefire. We are going, with our likeminded nations, to put pressure on bringing both parties to the table.

http://www.parl.gc.ca/39/1/parlbus/chambus...htm#SOB-1605587

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Canada calls on Sri Lanka Government to show leadership

Jun 27, 2006, 03:33 [TNS]

Clayton Littlejohn

Parliamentary Secretary to Canada?s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Deepak Obhrai, in a statement made in Canada?s parliament yesterday, called on the Sri Lanka Government to show leadership to take the peace process forward.

Noting that Canada has been monitoring events in Sri Lanka closely and is concerned with the recent escalation of violence in the country, Mr. Obhrai said in his statement, ?It is important that the Government of Sri Lanka now show leadership and foster a climate of trust where the peace process can move forward.?

We are concerned that para-military groups are being used to disturb the peace process and call on both the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE to ensure that these para-military groups are dismantled and that they both return to the peace talks as quickly as possible,? Mr. Obhrai said.

Last week, the Canada?s opposition members had raised the Sri Lanka?s conflict in the Parliament as well. Opposition member, Albina Guarnieri said, ?Recent attacks on civilians by the Sri Lankan armed forces have reached a level of atrocity.?

Citing the Navy attack on the Mannar Catholic Church, Ms. Guarnieri asked in Canada?s Parliament, ?I ask the government, when will it protest the latest wave of military atrocities in Sri Lanka??

In an interview earlier in the month, Ms. Pamela Greenwell, spokesperson for Canada?s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade had also called on the Government of Sri Lanka to uphold its responsibility to create a climate for peace. Ms. Greenwell called the attacks on civilians as another blow to the peace process.

The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), which has been charged with monitoring Sri Lanka?s ceasefire agreement, had said early this month in its report that the Government of Sri Lanka was unwilling to implement its commitments and showed little willingness to accept requests by the LTTE to normalize the situation.

According to the SLMM, the level of violence has decreased drastically after the Geneva talks but the situation rapidly deteriorated following the April 7th assassination of Mr. Vigneswaran, a Tamil civil society leader.

Analysts see the killing of Tamil civilians as deliberate acts by Sri Lanka?s armed forces to provoke the LTTE into a retaliatory attacks and the eventual breakout of war. Sri Lanka?s continued use of paramilitaries is cited by analysts as evidence of provocation by the government ? a fact not missed in Canada?s statement yesterday.

Over 80,000 people, mostly Tamils, have died in Sri Lanka?s decades of war.

http://www.tamileelamnews.com/news/publish.../tns_5492.shtml