Action Alert Archive

U.S. House Resolution ignores Sri Lanka’s State Terrorism

March 3, 2006

We would like to express our grave concerns regarding a bill proposed by Congressmen Jerry Weller and Jim Moran called Sri Lanka Tsunami Temporary Economic Relief Act of 2006. This Act, proposing a five-year tax exemption for Sri Lanka’s apparel industry, justifies the economic concessions to Sri Lanka by several misleading clauses. The most problematic clauses are listed below:

Clause (2): the rule of law, political pluralism, and the right to due process, a fair trial, and equal protection under the law;

Hundreds of thousands of Tamils have been held for several years without a trial. There have been numerous incidents of attacks and massacres of Tamils in prisons, when official prison and police authorities either stood by in passive support, or actively engaged in attacking Tamils. Tamils do not have equal protection under the law in Sri Lanka. Politically also, Tamils have been marginalized throughout the past 50 years since independence, starting with bills to disenfranchise the Indian Tamils and remove their rights as citizens.

Clause (5): A system to combat corruption and bribery;

In 2005, the then Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, who is now President-elect, was involved in the “Helping Hambantota” scandal where thousands of dollars of tsunami funds were transferred into his personal account. Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court then issued an interim order preventing the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Police from conducting an investigation into the “Helping Hambantota” Bank Account.

Clause (8): Does not engage in gross violation of internationally recognized human rights or provide support for acts of international terrorism and cooperates in international efforts to eliminate human rights violations and terrorist’s activities;

Since independence, the Government of Sri Lanka has been engaged in gross violations of internationally recognized human rights and other acts of state terrorism on the Tamil populated Northeast. There have been anti-Tamil riots during the years of 1956, 1958, 1961, 1977, 1979, 1981, and 1983. Communal gangs, often with the active assistance of the police and army were involved in looting, murder, rape, and other grave crimes equating to State Terrorism on the Tamil civilian population not only in the Northeast, but throughout the island.

We are deeply saddened by the one-sided nature of this bill, in its careless disregard for the grievances perpetuated upon the ethnic Tamil minority in Sri Lanka. Passing this Act tacitly supports the violence still plaguing the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka. This is a slap in our face as tax-payers and citizens of the Tamil American community. We strongly urge you to hear the cries of our people and not to support the Sri Lanka Tsunami Temporary Economic Relief Act of 2006.