Action Alert Archive

Take Action Now! (USA)
Take Action Now! (International)

Urge President Obama & Congress to bring change to Sri Lanka

January 20, 2009

Today, history has been made. America has demonstrated its willingness to face global challenges and remain a beacon of hope. I am writing to you today about the desperate challenges that Tamils in northern and eastern Sri Lanka are facing, and to urgently request your active involvement in reinstating a ceasefire. After over 50 years of political persecution and over 25 years of civil war, the conflict in Sri Lanka has reached its peak. Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse has vowed to end the ethnic conflict through military means, disregarding the cost of civilian lives, and the coming weeks will be among the most violent in the history of the conflict.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it is "extremely concerned" about the safety of civilians fleeing from the military advances. Paul Castella, an ICRC official, told the BBC that thousands of displaced civilians are now concentrated in an area so small that there are "serious concerns for their physical safety and living conditions".

The Sri Lankan government unilaterally withdrew from a 2002 ceasefire agreement in January 2008, and has since reverted to intensive warfare with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Although the government claims victory on a daily basis, the war continues to escalate, leaving civilians to bear the brunt of the violence. Over 300,000 Tamils have been displaced from their homes since September, as they flee from the military's artillery, aerial and ground assaults. In October, the Sri Lankan government ordered international aid organizations to evacuate the region, and imposed cumbersome restrictions on the type of aid that can reach refugees. Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, condemned the Sri Lankan government for "playing games with aid organizations" and urged the government to allow organizations full access to suffering civilians. Amnesty International has made similar pleas.

The government's actions provide the perfect recipe for genocide. The Genocide Prevention Project lists Sri Lanka as one of eight "Red Alert" countries, where genocide is underway or at grave risk of breaking out. Peter Campbell from the World Food Programme commented on the wretched conditions in the north: "It is basic as it can be. I haven't seen anything so basic since when I was in Somalia."

Despite the desperate conditions in Sri Lanka, international attention to the plight of civilians is severely lacking. TIME Magazine listed Sri Lanka as the third most underreported issue of 2008. As America inaugurates our new President, I urge his administration and the 111th Congress to seize the mantle of global leadership by acting immediately to end the tragedy unfolding in Sri Lanka. Please call for an immediate ceasefire to stop the ongoing assaults, and to allow human rights monitors throughout the island to hold all parties responsible for egregious rights violations. We must prevent Sri Lanka from becoming the next Rwanda.