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United States &
Tamil EELAM Freedom Struggle
US Senators call for ceasefire and international oversight
of detention camps
TamilNet, Friday, 13 March 2009
Dear Madame Secretary:
As you are aware, the humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka continues to deteriorate,
a situation we have been following closely and with increasing alarm. The
International Committee of the Red Cross recently warned of an �impending
catastrophe� and estimates that 150,000 civilians remain trapped in the Vanni -
the region of northeast Sri Lanka where war is being waged between the
Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
On February 24, the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Near East and
South Asia held a hearing on the crisis in Sri Lanka. In their testimony, the
witnesses described horrific atrocities by the LTTE. They recounted how the LTTE
conscripts child soldiers and hides among the civilian population, inviting
bombardments on densely populated areas. Furthermore, they refuse to let
entrapped civilians leave the area. This egregious disregard for human life
underscores why the United States designated the LTTE a foreign terrorist
organization.
Yet, the Sri Lankan government has acted no more responsibly. Not only does it
refuse to grant humanitarian aid workers access to the conflict zone, there are
reports that it also shells civilians and hospitals in the so-called �safe zone�
for Tamil citizens. Descriptions of government camps for civilians fortunate
enough to leave the conflict zone reminded us of detention centers, rather than
safe havens for refugees. In addition to the violence and dismal humanitarian
situation, we are also concerned about the state of Sri Lankan democracy. Since
fighting intensified over the past year, President Rajapaksa�s government has
been waging a war against the media. Journalists have been murdered and
imprisoned; their cases have gone uninvestigated and their perpetrators
unpunished.
The situation in Sri Lanka is unacceptable and must be remedied as quickly as
possible. We commend your recent statement with UK Foreign Minister David
Milliband that called on the government and the LTTE to adhere to a ceasefire,
allow access to humanitarian agencies, and resume political discussions to bring
the long-standing ethnic conflict to an end. An enduring peace can be achieved
only through a political solution that treats the Tamil minority as equal
citizens under the law. Without such an agreement, the violence will only
continue.
In the short term, we believe the United States must continue to call for a
ceasefire and make emergency humanitarian aid available to people in the
conflict zone. The government should be urged to allow humanitarian agencies
into the Vanni as expeditiously as possible, as well as to permit international
oversight of refugee camps. For the longer term, we also encourage you to work
with our friends and partners to create a unified group of donors that would
condition long-term reconstruction assistance on tangible steps by the
government to effectively address the underlying causes of the conflict. The
Government of Sri Lanka will require large amounts of assistance for
reconstruction. This will include assistance from multilateral institutions,
such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, as well as from bilateral
donors. We urge you to ensure that the United States constructively uses its
voice and vote in these institutions to help convince the Sri Lankan government
to change its behavior. Finally, we urge you to instruct our Embassy in Colombo
to explore the possibility of providing temporary refuge to Sri Lankan
journalists who legitimately fear for their safety and well-being and to
encourage other governments to take similar measures.
We appreciate your efforts to bring an end to this crisis.
Signed:
Robert P Casey Jr (D-PA)
Patrick Leahy (D-VT),
George Voinovich (R-OH),
Sherrod Brown (D-OH),
Joe Lieberman (ID-CT),
Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) and
Richard Burr (R-NC)
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