AUSTRALIA
Students for Palestine supports Tamils
9 May 2009
The following motion was passed by Students for Palestine (University of Western Sydney) on May 6.
* * *
Students for Palestine (UWS) condemns the genocidal policies of the Sri Lankan government, which are a continuation of more than six decades of systematic discrimination carried out against the Tamil population.
The drive toward the genocide of the Tamils has intensified since the Sri Lankan government abrogated the peace process in January 2008 and embarked on the re-conquest of the island’s north through brutal war, with devastating consequences for Tamils.
The last few months have been particularly brutal. More than 7000 Tamil civilians have been killed in a space of three months by the Sri Lankan state offensive. Tamils fleeing the fighting are being herded into concentration camps.
We believe people throughout the world must become more vocal against this genocide and protest governments that support the Sri Lankan government. Governments such as the United States, Israel, China, India and Pakistan have all equipped the Sri Lankan army with high-technology weapons, including illegal chemical weapons and cluster munitions.
We call for:
•an immediate end to the Sri Lankan government’s attacks on Tamils and an immediate ceasefire;
•diplomatic, economic and cultural sanctions to be applied until the Sri Lankan government agrees to an immediate ceasefire;
•all military aid and assistance to the Sri Lankan government to end immediately, because the money is being used to perpetrate genocide;
•the International Monetary Fund not to grant the Sri Lankan government the use of US$1.7 billion, as it will be used on military equipment to kill Tamil civilians;
•governments of the world to recognise and give full citizenship rights to Tamil refugees who have had to flee to avoid the genocide;
•the self-determination of Tamils — up to and including their right to form an independent state — to be respected by the governments of the world; and
•the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to be taken off proscribed terrorist lists.
