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Remember the killings

July 17, 2008

I am writing to call your attention to the tragic events of spring 1958, and July 1983, in which thousands of Tamils civilians were targeted by Sri Lankan government-backed mobs. Both of these events marked grave turning points in the human rights crisis in Sri Lanka.

"Black July", was an ethnic pogrom in July 1983 in which over 3,000 Tamils were killed during ten days. A 1984 International Commission of Jurists Report stated, "Clearly, this was not a spontaneous upsurge of communal hatred among the Sinhala people - nor was it, as has been suggested in some quarters, a popular response to the killing of 13 soldiers in an ambush by Tamil Tigers on the previous day, which was not even reported in the newspapers until after the riots began. It was a series of deliberate acts, executed in accordance with a concerted plan, conceived and organized well in advance."

The London Financial Times reported that government security forces either stood idly by, or participated in the attacks. Survivors testified that Sinhala gangs were given electoral lists to increase the speed and efficacy of the destruction. Over 150,000 Tamil civilians were displaced and thousands began fleeing the island.

In May 1958, Tamils were "attacked by Sinhala mobs" in Polonnaruwa, according to the Northeast Secretariat on Human Rights (NESOHR), a local human rights watchdog. According to NESOHR, "women were raped and Tamil property was damaged. . . The Sri Lankan government looked on as the violence against Tamils continued." Sinhala gangs in Colombo and other parts of the island went on a rampage to loot and destroy Tamil businesses and homes. Throughout the violence, thousands were displaced from their homes and over 300 Tamils were killed.

For the last half-century, the horrors of these pogroms have been silenced, as the impunity that followed this violence continues today. I urge you to honor the victims of both episodes of violence, by attending a human rights rally organized by PEARL and US Campaign for Burma on July 24th at noon at Russell Park. Only by remembering the past can we protect the future.