RAM Watch: 2006

Please read this petition to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on the still continuing atrocities in the island.

Recent incidents in this Indian Ocean island against unarmed civilians, especially the children in the Northeast were reported only by a very few international media. Also, these neverending series of atrocities were unfortunately yet to fall in the focus distance of the watchful eyes of many respected human rights organizations. Two citations -or rather to speak exactly, no-citation- are provided below to elaborate this pathetic state.

a. Human Rights Watch condemned in length the Gaza Beach killings of children of 9 June, 2006, an unspeakable incident, but has not utter a word till this day on the Vankali murders of a family of four of the worse caliber that seems to be predetermined and executed on the very same day.

b. In a similar line, an Indian English daily with large circulation,The Hindu reported the Gaza beach incident and the killing of a regional Tamil militant leader in Manner district on the same day, but curiously did opt not to report the gruesome Vankali murders.

This petition is for getting the attention of the international community to care about the innocent lives in the Northeast of the island.

If you agree with the contents of the petition, trust the facts and firmly believe that something that you can do nonviolently, but constructiive to change the situation, please sign, and then forward to others -anyone whom you think may understand the current deplorable conditions in the island- too.

Thank you.
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Please Stop The Human Rights Violations By The Sri Lankan Government
To sign GO HERE
http://www.petitiononline.com/UN061506/petition.html

---- Inserting the Contents of Petition -------------------
To: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

PLEASE, STOP THE HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS BY THE SRI LANKAN GOVERNMENT

To
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights,
United Nations Office at Geneva,
1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland

Respected High Commissioner,

We, the undersigned, bring the following to the kind attention of the UN and petition that the UN strongly condemns the human rights violations committed by the Government of Sri Lanka to the Tamil civilians living in Sri Lanka and that the UN takes immediate steps to stop such atrocities by the Government of Sri Lanka:

1. The international community has acknowledged that the Tamils living in Sri Lanka have their legitimate rights for which they have been struggling within the successive majoritarian Sinhalese Governments for the past more than three decades but in vain.

2. In the recent past, ever since the new President came to power, the number of human rights violations against the Tamil civilians is on the raise. A number of Tamil civilians including children, infants, press personnel, Tamil politicians and common men/women have been killed in a spree of attacks unleashed by the Government security forces in areas controlled by the Government as well as in areas controlled by the Tamil rebels. Examples of such violations are documented by Organizations such as Amnesty International and the Human Rights Watch and are listed in References (1 to 6) below.

3. Such acts of terrorism by the Government are posing a grave danger to the livelihood of all the Tamils living in the northern and the eastern parts of Sri Lanka. It is very frustrating to see that the human rights violations by the Sinhalese Government and the Government-backed paramilitary groups are muted by the vast majority of the global press. Except a handful of news sources, neither the Sinhalese media nor the majority of the worldwide media reports such atrocities meted out to the Tamil civilians, which is not justifiable at this information age. A situation thus has arisen in which the world is turning a blind eye to the genocide perpetrated by the Government of Sri Lanka against the minority Tamils for more than three decades.

At this juncture we, the undersigned, petition the UN,

1. To condemn the violent actions of the Government of Sri Lanka against the Tamil civilians,

2. To take immediate steps to stop the genocidal crimes committed by the Government of Sri Lanka for more than three decades during which more than 70,000 people have died and millions displaced,

3. To advise the World media to justly report the human right violations by the Government of Sri Lanka, and

4. To impose UN Sanctions against the Government of Sri Lanka that has been proven to be a terror, rogue and failed state.

References on Human Rights violations by the Government of Sri Lanka:

1. Vankalai massacre. Tamil Centre for Human Rights, June12, 2006
(http://tchr.net/press_rel_urg_act_tchr.html)

2. Eight Tamils "Disappear." Amnesty International, June 9, 2006 (http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA370152006?open&of=ENG-LKA)

3. Eighteen Tamils were killed (including a four month old baby and a four year old child). Amnesty International, May 16, 2006
(http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA370142006?open&of=ENG-LKA)

4. Security Forces stand by during mob attacks in Trincomalee. Human Rights Watch, April 25, 2006
(http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/04/25/slanka13262.htm)

5. Seven Humanitarian workers "disappeared" close to a military check point. Amnesty International, March 10, 2006
(http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA370072006?open&of=ENG-LKA)

6. Various violations including rape and murder. Amnesty International, January 11, 2006
(http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA370022006?open&of=ENG-LKA)

Thanking you very much,

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

----- Contents of the Pettion Ends -----------------------------------------------

Additional documents on recent violence against civilians can be seen here

1. Washington Post, AP Saturday, June 17, 2006; 7:13 AM:
Sri Lanka Village Attacked; 5 Killed
2. WSWS, June 17, 2006:
Bomb blast kills 64 villagers and catapults Sri Lanka toward war
3. WSWS, June 15, 2006:
Escalating violence in eastern Sri Lanka
4. Amnesty International, 15 June, 2006:
Sri Lanka: Amnesty International condemns attack on civilian bus
5. WSWS, June 14, 2006:
SLMM report exposes Sri Lankan military's complicity in violence and murder

Saturday, June 17, 2006

Online Petition: To the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on The Human Rights Violations in Sri Lanka

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Contrast: Good, Bad & Ugly

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Responding to HRW: CTC & Sangam

RAM Watch

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