| Targeting civilians should be stopped and the Ceasefire Agreement Resurrected in Sri Lanka - AFTA |
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The Australasian Federation of Tamil Associations (AFTA) notes with regret that the innocent civilians are being targeted in the recent weeks in all parts of the island of Sri Lanka.During the Norwegian facilitated cease-fire such attacks on innocent civilians were nonexistent. However, since President Rajapakse unilaterally abrogated the cease-fire agreement in January 2008 the country has plunged into senseless violence again. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has been accusing the government of deploying what have come to be known as "deep penetration units" to target vehicles in the Tamil held territory resulting in Tamil civilian casualties. Indiscriminate aerial bombardment and artillery shelling of residential areas in the Tamil held areas have also escalated resulting in civilian deaths and property damage. Attack on media personnel and Tamil parliamentarians also have escalated to silence any opposition to the Rajapakse regime. Tamil civilians are being abducted with impunity by security forces and the pro-government paramilitaries. LTTE accuse the Sri Lankan State of terrorising the Tamil people to beat them into submission. Targeting civilians in and around Colombo and Kandy has become a common phenomenon, since the beginning of this year. Media often quotes Sri Lankan military sources pointing the finger at the LTTE and suggests that these attacks may be in revenge to the sharp increase in indiscriminate attacks on Tamil civilians in the Tamil homeland in the north-east. LTTE however denies any involvement in such attacks on civilians in the south. Whatever the truth may be and whoever is behind these attacks, AFTA condemns all these attacks on innocent civilians and appeal for an immediate end to such wanton killings. AFTA believes the only way to break this cycle of violence is to reinstate the 2002 cease-fire agreement. AFTA appeals to the International Community in general and the Australian government in particular to work towards making both sides, the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE to resurrect the Norwegian facilitated cease-fire agreement and to get back to the negotiating table. In this regard AFTA would like to draw the attention of the international community to what the Irish Forum for Peace in Sri Lanka has suggested recently. The forum had said that the experience of the Irish peace process shows that only a dialogue, based on mutual recognition and parity of esteem, can produce a negotiated settlement and a lasting peace. “As a first step, this requires an immediate end to the EU ban of the LTTE.” Media Inquiries: Sydney: Dr. Victor Rajakulendran 0402 484 209 Melbourne: Mr. Param Paramanathan 0408 360 865 Canberra: Dr. Raga Ragavan 0402 387 920 |
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