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Stop the Carnage Immediately

April 21, 2009

I am writing you with an urgent request to demand the State Department impose severe economic and diplomatic sanctions against Sri Lanka for its continued refusal to heed the United States' call for an immediate ceasefire in the "Safe Zone" where up to 250,000 innocent Tamil civilians are trapped.

The government has launched a no-holds-barred campaign against Tamil civilians and in the last day there have been over one thousand civilian casualties. Total chaos prevails among civilians as the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) advanced into the so-called "Safe Zone" yesterday morning. Local reports cite the SLA executing refugees as they fled from the "Safe Zone".

On Monday, April 20, the Sri Lanka government gave the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) 24 hours to surrender or die. The Sri Lanka Army has deployed full fire-power without regard for civilian casualties in a battle which began on Monday at 2:00 a.m. Hundreds of dead bodies and wounded civilians are still lying in the districts of Maaththa'lan and Pokka'nai, and more than 1000 seriously wounded have been brought to a makeshift hospital functioning at a school in Mu'l'li-vaaykkaal.

A media correspondent personally witnessed nearly 300 dead bodies while fleeing from the area. Cluster shells and smoke or white-dust-emitting shells that made people faint are being deployed against civilians by the Sri Lanka Army in its effort to disorient and capture them. While a large majority of the civilians fled, around 8,000 were trapped and captured by the SLA according to local sources on the ground.

I am appealing to you to make your voice heard before it is too late. The United Nations, United States, UK, Canada, India and others have called upon the Sri Lankan government to accept an immediate ceasefire, but the Sri Lankan government is continuing its brutal campaign. During this moment of crisis, the State Department must declare specific repercussions against Sri Lanka for its continued refusal to accept a ceasefire, including a travel ban against Sri Lankan officials, economic and diplomatic sanctions against the regime, and declaring the Sri Lankan government is responsible for "war crimes". The genocidal acts by the Sri Lanka Army have continued with impunity since the military offensive began last September. I urge you to impose concrete, punitive measures against the Sri Lankan government if it continues to refuse to accept a ceasefire and ensure the protection of the thousands of Tamil civilians trapped in the "Safe Zone".