End the killing in Sri Lanka!
Stop the genocide now!
Rally & march
Saturday, May 9
12:00pm
United States Consulate
360 University Avenue
Toronto
TTC: St. Patrick or Osgoode
The Government of Sri Lanka has unilaterally abandoned the internationally mediated ceasefire, and is killing civilians in an intense war on the Tamil minority. Since January, more than 6,000 people have been killed, over 10,000 wounded, and hundreds of thousands internally displaced.
The international community has not stopped this massacre. Join us to demand an end to the killing in Sri Lanka.
Organized by
Canadian Federation of Students - Ontario
Canadian Peace Alliance
Toronto Coalition to Stop the War
For more information or to endorse, please contact the Canadian Peace Alliance:
Phone: 416-588-5555
E-mail: cpa@web.ca
Web: http://www.acp-cpa.ca
Event on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ev
The Canadian Peace Alliance has produced a solidarity statement, calling for an end to the attacks on the Tamil people. If your group would like to endorse this statement, please e-mail cpa@web.ca.
Stop the attacks on the Tamil people
Solidarity statement by the Canadian Peace Alliance
The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) has unilaterally abandoned the internationally mediated ceasefire agreement and has engaged in aerial bombings and artillery shelling of civilians in an intense war on the Tamil minority in the country. This war, which has killed as many as 70,000 Tamil civilians, has become more brutal. In 2008 alone, thousands of civilians were killed.
According to former UN Human Rights Commissioner, Louise Arbour, "The most fundamental rights of people to be secure in their persons and homes are being violated almost daily... There is an urgent need for the international community to monitor the unfolding human rights situation, as these are not merely ceasefire violations, but grave breaches of international human rights and humanitarian law." She went on to say that the "weakness of the rule of law and prevalence of impunity is alarming."
This devastating war has internally displaced over 500,000 Tamils, and the Government of Sri Lanka has expelled all local and international NGOs from the war-affected areas in the North. They have also placed an economic embargo on all food, medicine, fuel and other essential items reaching the civilians in the affected areas, creating a humanitarian disaster.
The Government of Sri Lanka has banned all reporters from the affected areas and has led a campaign of persecution against journalists. Reporters Without Borders has expressed outrage at the Sri Lankan government after they censored the BBC World Service reporters in the country and after the murder of prominent editor of the Sunday Times, Lasantha Wickrematunga. Wickrematunga, in his last editorial, published after his death, said he knew that he was being targeted by the government: "When finally I am killed, it will be the government that kills me," he wrote. The lack of access to international monitors is making it impossible to know exactly how many innocent civilians are being killed.
We call on the government of Canada to:
» Condemn the Government of Sri Lanka and call for an end to all attacks on Tamils
» Call on the Government of Sri Lanka to immediately allow international aid organizations and NGOs to bring emergency assistance to the civilians affected and to support the internally displaced Tamils
» Call on the Government of Sri Lanka to support the right to a free press and allow journalists into the affected areas
We also call upon the United Nations to condemn the Sri Lankan government's human rights violations and apply pressure on the Sri Lankan government to stop its genocidal war on the Tamil people.
Statement online: http://www.acp-cpa.ca/en/H
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5) Contact your Member of Parliament
The Canadian Peace Alliance has produced a sample letter that you can send to your Member of Parliament. Download the letter here: http://www.acp-cpa.ca/en/T
Please copy the letter and circulate to family, friends, co-workers, etc. Remember that no postage is required to send a letter to your Member of Parliament. Just mail your letter to the following address, and it's free of charge:
Member of Paliament (add your MP's name)
House of Commons
Parliament Buildings
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
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6) Write letters to the editor
Please take a moment to send a short letter to the editor in response to any articles you see in the media about the situation of Tamils in Sri Lanka or about the ongoing solidarity protests in Toronto and elsewhere.
Even if your letter isn't published, it sends a message to the editorial board that this is an important issue and that support is growing for the Tamil cause.
Please keep your letters short (under 200 words) and concise.""
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