World: A press release by Tamil Student`s Association in Canada
|
|
|
|
|
Monday, 09 January 2006 |
We are compelled to address this issue through Canada`s diplomatic community in Sri Lanka
The rise in human rights violation unleashed against the student population of Sri Lanka is a matter of concern and relevance to the Carleton University Tamil Student Association (CUTSA). In the wake of brutal attacks by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) on peaceful university students’ protests, we are compelled to address this issue through Canada’s diplomatic community in Sri Lanka.
Tamil Canadians sought refuge in Canada to escape the violence at the hands of the Sri Lankan government forces. The Tamil students are descendents of this wave of immigrants. While most of us were born and brought up in Canada, we still have close blood relatives in Sri Lanka. The correspondence with them has left us with in-depth and personal coverage of the ground situation.
The ground reality in Sri Lanka for the last few weeks is of grave concern to fellow Canadian students. Tamil students are harassed, arrested, interrogated and killed on a daily basis in Sri Lanka. Several corpses of young woman, evidently raped, have surfaced around military premises. Well aware of torture at the hands of Sri Lankan security forces, we are concerned about the health and psychological implications on student’s future. The conduct of the SLA shows no concern for human rights as evident in the following incidents:
- Kopai Christian College principal was shot dead
- Illayathambi Tharshini, 20, was raped and killed in Jaffna. Her body was found in an abandoned well adjacent to the Navy camp.
- Protesting university students were fired on by armed personals in Jaffna. Many students and employees, including the Vice Chancellor and senior professors, of the Jaffna University were admitted to the hospital with bullet wounds.
- Sixteen year old student, Arul Ajanthan, of Jaffna was shot dead in his home.
- Five young students were shot dead in cold blood but the attacks were immediately denied by the SLA.
However when serious evidences were submitted, Sri Lankan government agreed to setup a probe to deceive the International community. Unfortunately the probes of these types will be dragged on for years and the perpetrators will never be brought to justice, as happened in many probes in the twenty-five year civil war in Sri Lanka.
The SLA is directly responsible the above incidents. At the same time, there are several killings in which they are indirectly involved, while paramilitaries and intelligence operatives are blamed for the actual murder.
Naturally, our concerns are heightened by our close relationship with the many victims. Some of us are severely depressed and worried for the loved ones going through this ordeal. Such worries take a toll on our student life, hampering our capacity to perform in the educational environment. Many of us are enrolled in challenging programs in acclaimed institutions that do not tolerate any lacking from the student. Given the size of the Tamil Canadian community, this secondary effect on a sizable portion of the Canadian student population itself is a reason of significance for calling the Canadian government to act.
We believe that the government of Canada has the capacity and ability to address this issue. It has a reputation on the international stage for safeguarding human rights and world peace. Therefore any plea from its good offices on human rights will be genuine one and will have a strong positive influence on the Sri Lankan government. Thus the Tamil community in general and the Tamil student population in particular waits for a favorable reaction from the Canadian government in the most appropriate manner on this issue.
Executive Committe
CUTSA 2005/2006
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Carleton Unversity Tamil Student`s Association
SiberNews
|
Subscribe to this comment's feed
