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Tamils Protest Sri Lankan Genocide

Peter Marshall | 18.01.2009 10:03 | Repression | Social Struggles | World

Several hundred Tamils packed the pen in Whitehall, London - opposite Downing Street - for a demonstration on Saturday afternoon, 17 Jan 2009 against the genocide of the Tamil people being carried out by the Sri Lankan government. Many carried 'Tamils 4 Eelam' placards. Pictures Copyright (C) 2009 Peter Marshall, all rights reserved.

Tamil demonstrators in Downing Street pen
Tamil demonstrators in Downing Street pen






The Tamils were there to draw attention to the continuing attacks on Tamil civilians, schools, hospitals and churches by the Sri Lankan Army and Air Force and to call for an independent Tamil state, Tamil Eelam, in Sri Lanka. They accuse the Sri Lankan government of genocide, and claim that in the past month alone over 300,000 Tamils have been forced to move out of their homes by the bombardment.

The killing of Tamils has been mentioned on 'My London Diary' on previous occasions, with a five-day fast in Parliament Square by Thaya Idaikkadar in June 2006 -  http://mylondondiary.co.uk/2006/06/jun.htm - and the leafleting by Tamils in Central London last October-  http://mylondondiary.co.uk/2008/10/oct.htm#parliament - but little it has appeared in the mainstream media.

Last October I wrote "International media are banned from the Tamil areas of the country and NGOs have been ordered out of some areas, so there are few reports of the war. The Tamils allege that over 100,000 Tamils have been killed, over a million have fled the country and another half million have fled their homes inside Sri Lanka - half of these in the last three months."

Peter Marshall
- e-mail: petermarshall@cix.co.uk
- Homepage: http://mylondondiary.co.uk

Additions

Please give us 5 minutes of your precious time

18.01.2009 11:17

(text of leaflet distributed at the demo)

SRI LANKAN GOVERNMENT'S WAR OF GENOCIDE AGAINST TAMILS.

In the past one month more than 300,000 Tamils have been internally displaced due to the continuous bombardment by the Sri Lankan Army (SLA). Tamil civilians, including women and children are attacked daily by SLA artillery shells and arial bombardment by the Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF). SLAF using its Kefir aircrafts, attacks at least 6 times daily deploying a minimum of 6 bombs each. At the same timeSLA continues to use the banned cluster bombs. On 30th Nov 2008, SLA used Russian made OFAB-500 cluster bombs that killed many civilians in Vanni and wounded countless other, of which 11 were children. SLA and SLAF do not just attack and kill Tamil civilians they also attack livestock on which the Tamils depend upon. On 21st Dec 2008, 85 cows were killed and on 26th Dec 10 more were killed.

SLA continues to bombard Tamil civilians and civilian infrastructures such as schools, hospitals, temples and churches. Tamil women and girls are being raped. Decomposed remains of those brutally killed are being recovered in the shores of Jaffna. Tamil politicians and journalists that speak out for the Tamil civilians are being assassinated.

Whilst the International Media address the situation in Gaza it refuses to recognise the situation in Vanni, Sri Lanka. Why? International Media now have the power to bring to attention the Genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka. International NGOs, Institutions, governments and particularly the United Nations Human Rights council have the power to stop the Genocide of Tamils, are you going to let us die?

Please look at our people, Please listen to our cries, Please highlight the truth.

Make sure you do something about it, give us and our people the much deserved FREEDOM.

www,tamilIDPcrisis.org

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