AUSTRALIANS WALK FOR TAMIL JUSTICE
Australians in Glen Waverley and Sunshine will be walking in force to the State Library of Victoria on Sunday 15th March to alert Australians to war crimes and genocide in Sri Lanka.
Campaign for Tamil Justice Spokesperson, said a large group of people will conduct a peaceful walk this Sunday, while the United Nations Human Rights Council discusses human rights situation around the world.
The UN Human Rights Commissioner has delayed the release of the report on Sri Lanka’s human rights abuses. It has been delayed at least for another six months.
“We hoped that the UN investigation would apply pressure on Sri Lanka to release all the Tamil political prisoners and would bring an end to the ongoing violence by the military in the North and East of Sri Lanka” said Vasanth Lawrence.
“The new Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) has made no progress towards an effective accountability process for the serious and widespread atrocities committed during the civil war. The heavy military presence in the predominantly Tamil areas, and continued arbitrary arrests, intimidation and killings are the main reasons for the Tamil youth fleeing Sri Lanka on leaky boats, to places like Australia.”
“Australia and other international players can put pressure on Sri Lanka, not only to bring peace and justice in the war-torn country, but also to see an end to the violence and fear that Tamils flee from.”
“We want to raise the awareness of the Australian public to what is a tragic situation in Sri Lanka on Sunday. They do not get the truth from the Australian Government, or from the Srisena regime in Sri Lanka.
“Sri Lanka is run by Maithripala Srisena, a man who is partly responsible for what the UN calls war crimes and crimes against humanity, at the end of the civil war in 2009. He was the deputy Defence Minister in early 2009. His military deliberately murdered at least 70,000 innocent Tamil civilians lured by the Army to so-called No Fire Zones. They also continue a long running campaign of persecution against the Tamils.”
Mr Lawrence said the protestors on Sunday are calling on the Australian government and other international players to apply pressure on Sri Lanka to:
- Withdraw military from the North and East of Sri Lanka
- Bring an immediate end to the forced resettlements in the Tamil areas
- Release all the Tamil political prisoners
- End a campaign of murder, rape, jailings, torture and other crimes against Tamils
The walk will commence at 9:30am Sunday 15th March from Glen Waverley Train station and 10:30am from Sunshine Train Station. At 3PM the walkers will converge at the State Library of Victoria for a rally.
The rally will include speakers such as Trevor Grant, Kevin Bracken, Robert Stary and others including members of the Tamil community.