To: info@commonwealth.int

Cc: e.delbuey@commonwealth.int, m.esipisu@commonwealth.int, j.mucunguzi@commonwealth.int, g.goh@commonwealth.int, y.chin@commonwealth.int, v.holdsworth@commonwealth.int, s.gimson@commonwealth.int, r.smith@commonwealth.int, M.Masire-Mwamba@commonwealth.int, p.sen@commonwealth.int, hru@commonwealth.int, j.matiya@commonwealth.int, m.vincent@commonwealth.int, m.yusuf@commonwealth.int

Subject : The Commonwealth must suspend Sri Lanka!

Mr. Kamalesh Sharma

Secretary-General of the commonwealth.

Marlborough House, Pall Mall,

London SW1Y 5HX, UK

Phone: +44 (0)20 7747 6500 (switchboard)

Fax: +44 (0)20 7930 0827

Sir,

The Sri Lankan government has declared a victory in its long running battle with the Tigers, having captured what was once rebel-held territory. But at the same time, they have left many without food, water or sanitation. And they have kicked out the United Nations agencies, which might have helped to alleviate people's suffering.

This is not just a faraway problem in a faraway place. There are some 500,000 Tamils living in the commonwealth nations today, many of them desperately worried for the relatives they have left behind. And while the civil war has cost more than 100,000 lives over its bloody path, the violence is far worse today. Since the New Year, not only have 2,000 people lost their lives, but a further 5,000 have been injured. That's more than the highest estimates for casualties in Gaza.

There are also reports that particularly lethal cluster bombs, banned white phosphorous and multi-barrelled rocket launchers have been fired on the civilian population. Hospitals have been bombed, as have places that the government has encouraged people to see as "safe zones".

In many cases, the killings have been what independent observers would define as genocide, with whole communities killed in a form of ethnic cleansing. With the eyes of the world turned elsewhere, the Sri Lankan government has felt able to get away with this slaughter, despite condemnation from the Dalai Lama and the UN secretary general.

Robert Evans, the chairman of the European Parliament Delegation for Relations with South Asia reiterated this on February 14th when he noted:

“The Sri Lankan government has urged Tamil civilians to come over to their side for protection, but there is a strong reticence and 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, not to mention the different language and religion which divides the Hindu Tamils from the Buddhist Sinhalese troops.”

Dr. Rachel Joyce, a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom, apologised last Sunday for the error of Colonial Britain in making a unitary Ceylon out of two nations, the Tamils and the Sinhalese. “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 hope The Commonwealth will do its bit to ensure that a peaceful conclusion is reached to this bloodiest of wars. If we don't act now, many more innocent people will lose their lives in the months ahead.

Thanks

Reference:

Anna Neistat, Human Rights Watch testimony: http://omiusajpic.org/files/2009/02/neista...ony090224p1.pdf

Bob Dietz, Committee to Protect Journalists: http://omiusajpic.org/files/2009/02/dietzt...ony090224p1.pdf

Bruce Fein, Tamils Against Genocide written testimony :http://tamilnet.com/img/publish/2009/02/BFHearingTestimony2.pdf

Karen Parker, Association of Humanitarian Lawyers written testimony: http://www.tamilnet.com/img/publish/2009/0...Parker22Feb.pdf

London's Frontline press club Feb. 24, 2009: http://frontlineclub.com/events/2009/02/ne...ow-victory.html

Civilian Casualties in NE Sri Lanka 1958 - June 2008 : http://www.sangam.org/2009/02/TCHR_Civilia...es.php?uid=3323

also: http://www.tchr.net/home.html

ICRC worker killed - http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/h...09?OpenDocument

லண்டனில் பொதுநலவாய நாடுகளின் மாநாட்டுக்கு முன்பாக நடைபெற்ற கவனயீர்ப்பு போராட்டத்தின் படத்தொகுப்பு

http://www.tamilnaatham.com/photos/2009/mar/20090305/LONDON/

பிரித்தானியா கார்டியன் பத்திரிகையில் வந்த செய்தி

Stop Sri Lanka's bloody civil warSri Lanka's government has turned a blind eye to the mass killing of Tamils. The Commonwealth should threaten expulsion

We heard on a nightly basis about the events in Gaza earlier this year. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for what's been happening in Tamil areas of Sri Lanka. It's understandable that these terrible events rarely make the evening news: the Sri Lankan government bans the media and aid agencies. Yet 2,000 innocent people have lost their lives and hundreds of thousands more have lost their homes as the government has sought to end the terrorism of the Tamil Tiger rebels.

Sri Lanka has been in the grip of civil war for over 25 years as the Tamils – who make up nearly a fifth of the island's 18 million population – have tried to gain independence. Nobody denies that the Tigers have been brutal in their methods, often leaving civilians dead in terrorist attacks. But this can't excuse what's happening to many innocent Tamil civilians today. And Commonwealth ministers, who met in London today, must say so in the strongest possible terms.

The Sri Lankan government has declared a victory in its long running battle with the Tigers, having captured what was once rebel-held territory. But at the same time, they have left many without food, water or sanitation. And they have kicked out the United Nations agencies, which might have helped to alleviate people's suffering.

This is not just a faraway problem in a faraway place. There are 150,000 Tamils living in Britain today, many of them desperately worried for the relatives they have left behind. And while the civil war has cost 75,000 lives over its bloody path, the violence is far worse today. Since the New Year, not only have 2,000 people lost their lives, but a further 5,000 have been injured. That's more than the highest estimates for casualties in Gaza.

There are also reports that particularly lethal cluster-bombs, banned white phosphorous and multi-barrelled rocket launchers have been fired on the civilian population. Hospitals have been bombed, as have places that the government has encouraged people to see as "safe zones".

In many cases, the killings have been what independent observers would define as genocide, with whole communities killed in a form of ethnic cleansing. With the eyes of the world turned elsewhere, the Sri Lankan government has felt able to get away with this slaughter, despite condemnation from the Dalai Lama and the UN secretary general.

They mustn't any longer. Ministers must condemn the Sri Lankan government and make clear that the country faces expulsion from the Commowealth – which expects its members to observe human rights – unless it allows the UN and aid agencies full access to the region.

I also hope our foreign secretary, David Miliband, will do his bit to ensure that a peaceful conclusion is reached to this bloodiest of wars. If we don't act now, many more innocent people will lose their lives in the months ahead.

- http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/20...ar/04/sri-lanka

Sri Lanka escapes Commonwealth focus despite British MPs’ demand

Sri Lanka escapes Commonwealth focus despite British MPs’ demand

By Dipankar De Sarkar

London, March 5 (IANS) The political watchdog of the Commonwealth refrained from discussing the civil war in Sri Lanka despite a last-minute plea by a group of British MPs to place it on the agenda of its meeting in London Wednesday, a Sri Lankan diplomat said.

“There was a brief mention of pressure being put by some MPs, but there was no discussion,” the diplomat said on condition of anonymity, refusing to say who raised the matter.

“In any case, even if they took it up we would have objected because this is not the forum to discuss it,” the diplomat told IANS after the meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), the body that is charged with enforcing adherence to human rights and democratic values.

The CMAG met to discuss the situation in Fiji, where a military coup ousted a democratically-elected government in 2006, but a group of 10 British MPs issued an appeal on the morning of the meeting criticising the Sri Lankan government and urging the Commonwealth to suspend the South Asian country for alleged human rights violations against Tamils.

“Last year Sri Lanka lost its seat on the UN human rights council over its poor human rights record. It is likewise incumbent upon the Commonwealth to exercise leadership on human rights,” the MPs said in their joint statement.

They said Sri Lanka, which has never featured on the CMAG’s agenda, should be “put under permanent scrutiny and its government suspended from the Commonwealth” unless it met four conditions.

These were: establishing a ceasefire with Tamil rebels; granting UN monitors unfettered access; allowing international aid agencies access to the troubled Vanni region; and resuming peace negotiations with militants.

The Sri Lankan diplomat, however, said the statement, which was published as a letter in The Guardian newspaper, had not been delivered to the Sri Lankan Embassy in London.

“In any case, while we are happy to state our case, we would never have discussed the situation under the terms spelt out in the letter,” the diplomat added.

The appeal was signed by the ruling Labour Party’s Joan Ryan, Siobhain McDonagh, Virendra Sharma, Andrew Dismore, Stephen Pound, Phyllis Starkey, Eric Joyce and Neil Gerrard, the Conservative Party’s Lee Scott, Andrew George of the Liberal Democrats and Andrew Pelling, an independent MP.

The CMAG meeting, chaired by the Ugandan Foreign Minister, said Fiji would face full suspension from the 53-nation Commonwealth if it did not move restore democracy by September.

The Pacific island-nation is currently barred from attending meetings of the Commonwealth

- http://www.newspostonline.com/national/sri...d-2009030537332