petitions srilanka

Petition to the Government of India to Lift the Ban on Non-existing LTTE

To: The Honorable Prime Minister of India

Petition to the Government of India to Lift the Ban on Non-existing LTTE

Since the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi on May 14, 1991 the Government of India (GOI) has banned the LTTE as a terrorist organization. Thereafter, the ban has been extended every 2 years. On May 14, 2010 the GOI extended the ban on LTTE for another two years.

Among a number of reasons given for the ban by Notification S.O. 1090 (E) published by the Ministry of Home Affairs, GOI is that the LTTE’s objective for a separate homeland (Tamil Eelam) for all Tamils threatens the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India, and amounts to cession and secession of a part of the territory of India from the Union and thus falls within the ambit of an unlawful activity.

There has not been a single case of terrorist act in the name of LTTE in India barring the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. Even then it was not a terrorist act.

As per the Supreme Court of India judgment, by Judge Thomas, the killing was carried out due to personal animosity of the LTTE chief Prabhakaran towards Rajiv Gandhi. The judgment further cited the death of Thileepan in a hunger strike and the suicide by 12 LTTE cadres in a ship in October 1987. The judgment while convicting the accused, four of them to death and others to various jail terms, states that absolutely no evidence existed that any one of the conspirators ever desired the death of any Indian other than Rajiv Gandhi, though several people were killed. Judge Wadhwa further states there is nothing on record to show that the intention to kill Rajiv Gandhi was to overawe the Government. Hence it was held that it was not a terrorist act under TADA (Act).

Appearing before the New Delhi's Tribunal hearing petitions against the ban of the LTTE and presided over by the Delhi High Court judge Vikramjit Sen MDMK leader Vaiko argued that he should be involved in the hearing and to plead that the ban extended by the GOI on 14 May 2010 should not be confirmed by the Tribunal. He said the very first reason given by GOI for the ban that the Tamil Eelam objective of the LTTE includes Tamil Nadu, falls to the ground to pieces as the LTTE never wanted to annex an inch of land of Tamil Nadu, Vaiko said, adding that GOI’s reasons are totally fabricated with false. Vaiko, who is facing two cases of sedition for his speeches supporting the banned outfit argued against extending the ban before the tribunal.

When Vaiko explained that Tamil Eelam is a justifiable demand of Eelam Tamils for an independent nation only in the north and east of the island, the judge asked “Mr. Vaiko, the LTTE, don’t they want to annex Tamil Nadu or part of India with Tamil Eelam?”

“My Lord, I am really happy for this opportunity to clarify this vital point. The LTTE never wanted to annex even an inch of land of Tamil Nadu with their Tamil Eelam,” Vaiko replied.

“Could the Union Government of India prove that the LTTE did mention in any of their periodicals or manifesto or publications? They could not. This is beyond any stretch of imagination of Eelam Tamils. This is a vicious, malicious campaign made deliberately by the Indian Government to malign the LTTE,” Vaiko told the Tribunal.

When Vaiko brought out the example that the liberation of Bangladesh was not annexation of West Bengal, the judge Sen [a Bengali], with a smile said, “Such a talk was also there,” to which Vaiko said that it didn’t happen.

As people supporting liberation is universal, as seen in the cases of Kosovo, East Timor and Palestine, and as the LTTE is no threat to territorial integrity of India, how could establishing Tamil Eelam come within the ambit of ‘unlawful activity’ in India, argued Vaiko.

In our view, the real reason for banning the LTTE is to stifle political opponents of the ruling DMK-Congress government in Tamil Nadu. The ban is a convenient tool to harass, arrest and jail those who criticize the state government.

Therefore, we the World Tamils, including those in India, appeal to the Hon. Prime Minister to lift the ban on the non-existing LTTE and not to use the ban as a cloak to clamp down on freedom of speech and expression.

Sincerely,

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http://www.petitiononline.com/LiftBAN/petition-sign.html

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Please sign the petition Stop Custodial Deaths in Sri Lanka

http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/custodialdeath/sign.php

The incidents of extrajudicial killings and custodial deaths in Sri Lanka are now almost a daily occurrence and the story presented to the Magistrate by the Sri Lankan Police Service is always similar. Either they were shot while trying to escape or the police were taking the culprit to a weapons cache when he turned on them with a weapon of some description, amazingly, usually a hand grenade.

It is uncertain as to what is more ludicrous, the fact that the police never bother to change their story or the fact that they honestly believe the citizens of Sri Lanka are so gullible they will believe them. Unfortunately, they do not care about the opinions of the citizens, only the Magistrate who has no independent witnesses and can only take the word of the officers reporting the case.

The Inspector General of Police, Secretary of the Ministry of Defense and the President must be told by the international community that they are being held responsible, not only for the deaths but also the lack of any credible investigations and the denial of justice to the victims and their families.
Please sign the petition to send a clear message to the government of Sri Lanka.
The petition letter:

Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse
President
Socialist Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka
C/- Office of the President
Temple Trees
150, Galle Road
Colombo 3
SRI LANKA

Fax: +94 11 2472100 / +94 11 2446657
secretary@presidentsoffice.lk

Dear President Mahinda Rajapakse,

The situation of extrajudicial killings and deaths occurring at police stations throughout Sri Lanka has reached epidemic proportions with incidents happening on an almost daily basis. Independent investigations are never carried out and the only witnesses to the event are the police officers themselves who testify before the locale magistrates thereby exonerating themselves of any wrongdoing.

We call upon the government of Sri Lanka to put an immediate end to the needless deaths and suffering caused by this criminal action on the part of the Sri Lankan Policing Service.

The government must:


1. Make effective instructions to the Inspector General of Police to stop all killings that take place at police stations and take effective measures to bring this practice to an end.

2. Hold the Officers-in-Charge and the immediate Assistant Superintendent of Police of the area responsible for all deaths occurring at the police stations under their control.

3. Seek the advice of the Attorney General's Department on effective measures against police officers responsible for such actions.

4. Reactivate the Special Unit of Investigation of the Criminal Investigation Division in order to investigate all cases of torture and extrajudicial killings at police stations under the Penal Code and the CAT Act, Act No. 22 of 1994

Without immediate and positive action on the part of the government of Sri Lanka extrajudicial killings and custodial deaths will continue to occur at police stations. Now is the time to stop this criminal action by the very officers of the law who are supposed to be protecting the people of the country.

We encourage you to sign the petition and forward it to other individuals and organizations you believe would be interested in supporting this initiative.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

[organization] [location]

Asian Human Rights Commission
Email: ahrc @ahrc.asia

http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/custodialdeath/