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Expressing anger and sadness at the killing of Senior Parliamentarian Joseph Pararajasingham, US based Tamil Organizations, in a press release issued Monday, pointed out that "Tamils killings are never investigated...and armed forces in Sri Lanka operate with complete impunity," urged the international community to "show political and moral courage and impose sanctions on the government of Sri Lanka in order to put an immediate end of this deliberated and calculated violence."
Full text of the release follows:
A CALL TO IMPOSE SANCTIONS ON THE GOVERNMENT OF SRI LANKA
We, the
undersigned organizations in USA are angry and deeply saddened by the
brutal murder of Mr.Joseph Pararajasingham, Tamil Parliamentarian and a
human rights activist. We are shocked that the murder was carried out
in a church and during a midnight mass to celebrate Christmas. St.
Mary’s church where Mr. Pararajasingham was murdered is in a Sri Lankan
army controlled High Security Zone in the Batticaloa town.
Mr.
Joseph Pararajasingham was shot, just after he received communion from
Bishop Kingsley Swampillai, the Bishop of Batticaloa. Mr.
Pararajasingham’s wife, Sugunam was also seriously wounded and is in a
critical condition. Seven others including children were also wounded
in this barbaric act.
The
Tamil people all over the world have lost a fearless champion who
risked his life to tell the truth of injustice and cruelty to the
Tamils by the Sinhala Buddhist controlled Sri Lankan government. The
world has lost an honest and decent human being.
Mr.
Joseph Pararajasingham was a founding member of the NorthEast Human
Rights Secretariat [NESHOR]. He was also an Executive Member of the
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and the SAARC Parliamentary
Association.
Mr.
Joseph Pararajasingham met various world leaders and officials
including the US Department of State and brought to their attention the
persecution of Tamils by the successive Sri Lankan government. When the
US Congressman Danny K. Davis visited the Tamil areas this year, Mr.
Joseph Pararajasingham accompanied him. This callous murder should be
seen in the context of Sri Lankan government’s efforts to de-link the
Tamils from the international community and denying them an opportunity
to bring to their attention, the ceasefire violation and the
extrajudicial and sexual assaults perpetrated by the Sri Lankan armed
forces.
The
sanctity of a church and the sacredness of the day were not considered
in carrying this atrocious act on Christmas day in a Church. This
should not be considered in isolation but in the context of recent
persecution of Christians and burning of churches in callous disregard
for the religious pluralism in the country by the Sinhala Buddhist
chauvinistic forces.
We are
shocked by the cynicism of the Sri Lankan government which by its
statements or insinuations by their spokes person, Sinhala
correspondents and Sinhala ‘experts’ are trying to blame the LTTE for
this murder. These outrageous accusations as usual are done without any
investigations or even the apprehension of the assassins who carried
out the murder in a High Security Zone controlled by the Sri Lankan
army. This insults the intelligence of people. The location of the
assassination a “High Security Zoneâ€, which are Tamil areas occupied by
the Sinhala armed forces clearly establishes that this atrocious murder
was probably done by the Sri Lankan armed forces or by the paramilitary
forces acting in collusion with the Sri Lankan military intelligence.
This
cowardly action is not only violating the Article 2.1 of the ceasefire
agreement which prohibits assassination but also the killing of a
noncombatant. It is also a violation of Fourth Geneva Convention
Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Times of War. This is
nothing but an act of State terrorism in its naked form.
We also
sadly point out that the action/inaction on the part of the
international community contributed to the present climate. When the
Sri Lankan leadership repeatedly claimed that they had established an
international safety net designed to surround and contain the Tamils
struggle for self-determination, the international community’s failure
to repudiate these claims and disassociate itself from the stated
partisan goals of such a safety net strengthened the hands of the
Sinhala armed forces. The Co-Chair’s turning a blind eye towards the
failure of the Sri Lankan armed forces to vacate civilian homes,
temples, schools in violation of Article 2.2 of the ceasefire agreement
and International Humanitarian Laws; the failure of the Sri Lankan
government to disarm the paramilitary groups as required by Article 1.8
of the ceasefire agreement and scuttling of the Post-Tsunami
Operational Management [PTOMS] to address the urgent humanitarian needs
of the Tsunami victims embolden the Sinhala chauvinist forces that they
can breach the ceasefire agreement with impunity and impose a military
solution to the Tamil national question. In addition, while the
international community employs concepts such as “earned sovereigntyâ€,
“conditional sovereignty†and “phased out sovereignty†in national
conflicts in Sudan, Bougenvilla, Montenegro, and Kosovo, its insistence
that its solutions to the current conflicts in the island of Sri Lanka
should be within the united Sri Lanka creates a perception that the
international community is on the side of the Sinhala chauvinistic
forces.
The
international community must take concrete actions to stop the State
terrorism. We are aware that when known leaders of the Tamil struggle
are killed, such as Mr. Kausalyan, the head of LTTE’s Eastern political
wing and the head of the Eastern Tsunami reconstruction efforts, and
Mr. Chandra Nehru, the Human Rights activist and journalist Taraki, the
international community expressed concerns. However, the assassination
of Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham demonstrates that these concerns have not
had any effect on the Sri Lankan government. It is appalling that these
and other deaths are never investigated fully and brought to any
conclusion. The impunity with which Tamils killings are never properly
investigated or punished including mass murders are an encouragement
for the armed forces to continue with their killings. However the LTTE
is blamed without any effective investigation. This is part of the war
to marginalize and dehumanize the only force that can effectively speak
up for the Tamils.
We are
also aware that due to the inherent bias in the international system
and diplomatic protocols is easy to criticize and take actions against
a non-state party. We also would like to point out that given the
political history since independence appeasement of the Sinhala
Buddhist forces will not change its pervasive and entrenched racism.
The international community must show political and moral courage and
impose sanctions on the government of Sri Lanka in order to put an
immediate end of this deliberated and calculated violence. Such an
action would restore confidence of the Tamil people in the peace
process.
World Tamil Coordinating Committee – USA
Illankai Tamil Sangam – USA
World Tamil Women Organization – USA
Federation of Tamil Association of North America (FeTNA)– USA
Center for Women’s Development and Rehabilitation – USA
Tamil Heritage International – USA
Illankai Tamil Sangam - Florida
World Tamil Organization - Illinois
Midwest Tamil Sangam - Illinois
Ohio Tamil Association - Ohio
Tamil Refugees Rehabilitation Organization - California
Illankai Tamil Sangam - California
Illankai Tamil Sangam - Vancouver-Portland – Washington
Illankai Tamil Association - North Carolina
Tamil Welfare and Human Rights Committee – District of Colombia
Source: TamilNet
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