THE TAMIL CANADIAN ELDERS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS


“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere “Martin Luther King Jr.


5310 Finch Ave. East, Unit. 10, Scarborough-On. M1S 5E8, Canada.


Phone # 416 613 2787, Efax # 647 247 1010


E-mail: humanrights2611@gmail.com

REG# 1854792


November 15, 2011

Hon. Alam Mozaharul, United Nations Environment Programme:


Grand Oriental Hotel – December 14– 15, 2011


We, The Tamil Canadian Elders for Human Rights understand that you have been invited for the above event. It’s an irony that you are being invited to Sri Lanka, who themselves have and are contributing to climate change and injustice social issues. Sri Lanka is not a suitable place to host an international conference. The real purpose of hosting these conferences by Sri Lanka is to hide their war crimes.

We kindly request you to consider the following serious issues before you decide to participate in the above conference in Sri Lanka and make arrangements to host this conference in another country which is genuinely concerns for Climate Change and Social Issues.

1) The war and the environmental issues:- The most inhuman and feared phase of brutal war against Tamils in northeast of Sri Lanka has been unleashed with unpardonable brutality by the militarized State of Sri Lanka. More than 6000 bombs were dropped over Tamil civilians living in Vanni. Multi barrel loungers, Daisy Cutter bombs, white phosperous bombs, thermobaric bombs, chemical weapons and cluster bombs have been abundantly used to annihilate the Tamil generation as well as the large scale irreversible damage caused to the environment including trees and animals, flora and fauna. The long-term consequences in using these weapons should be considered by the international community.http://www.tamilcanadian.com/article/5693

2) The post war social issues: – More than 250,000 innocent civilians got killed. Each day under the pretext of suspicion and checking innocent women are threatened under gun-buts they are put under apprehension. On the one side the government declares that the war is over and at the same time large number of armed military is placed in the Tamil resettled areas. The Tamils are forced to live under apprehension and surveillance. In contrast to this from Colombo to Anurathapuram in the areas of Sinhala dwelling no military could be visible…The women and children are the most sufferers in the situation. The 2009 war alone has rendered 90000 women as homeless, landless widows…90,000 widows, about 75,000 to 1,00,000 orphans and 40,000 disabled – these are numbers speaking for themselves to the extent of dependency thrust upon the people, specially women, due to the war situation. The ratio of Tamil population is to army is 10:1 (70,000). Such is the atmosphere of surveillance post war, casting long term impacts on the civilian life and the social issues. http://www.sangam.org/2011/08/Status_Widows.php?uid=4430

3) Illegal excavation of limestone threatens ecology of Jaffna:-

Threatening the entire groundwater and fragile ecology of Jaffna peninsula, a private Sinhalese company is engaged in the illegal excavation of limestone in the High Security Zone (HSZ) in Valikaamam North while Rajapaksa government refuses to reveal details of this enterprise in the area from Maaviddapuram to Keerimalai where the uprooted residents have not been allowed to resettle for the past twenty years. The indiscriminate excavation of limestone in a 4 sq km area at depths of nearly 40 feet has already caused seepage of sea water and it is feared the area becoming submerged. The underground channels that bring in freshwater to the innumerable aquifers of the peninsula, have an underneath entry into sea adjacent to the locality of the quarries. It is obvious how indiscriminate quarrying and the possibility of seawater coming inside can affect the potable water of the masses.The Jaffna Peninsula depends largely on the limestone bed for the preservation of rainwater into groundwater. It is already an alarming news that 30 percent of the groundwater in the peninsula has become saline in recent times due to various reasons. http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&artid=32023

4) Sand dunes scooped:- Similar to the plunder of limestone in the Jaffna Peninsula, agents of Colombo are now engaged in scooping the sand dunes which is of immense natural beauty and of archaeological as well as tourist potentiality, sources in Northen province. The fragile ecology of the densely populated Jaffna Peninsula is deliberately destroyed by corporates in the construction industry and by their contractors, academics in Jaffna said. http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=32070

5) Portending danger for potable water in Jaffna: - The news of re-opening the cement factory at Kaangkeasanthu’rai (KKS) in the Jaffna Peninsula has been received with serious concern by academics and environmentalists from Jaffna. According to them, the factory, when it was functioning earlier, was a health hazard to the densely populated surroundings. It affected horticulture as crops were covered by cement dust. Above all, exploitative quarrying of limestone has already portended the possibility of seawater coming inside and polluting the entire groundwater table of the peninsula. http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&artid=26503

Also, please kindly view the attachments below regarding the War Crimes, Violation of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law and Genocide of Tamils committed by the Sri Lankan Government and its forces.

Thank you for your consideration on this matter.

Yours Truly,

Kumarathasan Rasingam – President

Perampalam Kanapathipillai- Secretary

MsUmadevi Sivasundram – Treasurer

Selvarajah Ramupillai – Director

Thiyagarajah Sivasundram – Director

MsValthuruthamma Vethanayagam – Director

Vijayakanthan N Swaminathan – Director

Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6uSypDgXJ4&feature=player_embedded

2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YObjM7FLuw&feature=player_embedded#at=676

3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iyYfL8CVAw&feature=player_embedded#at=1222

http://www.channel4.com/news/sri-lanka-war-crimes-soldiers-ordered-to-finish-the-job

They shot people at random. Stabbed people. Raped them. Cut out their tongues, cut women’s breasts off. I saw people soaked in blood.

‘Licence to kill’

He described how he had watched as Sri Lankan forces shot dead unarmed Tamil women and children. It is the first time this allegation has been made.

http://warwithoutwitness.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=294:dublin-tribunal-finds-against-sri-lanka-on-charges-of-war-crimes&catid=38:reports&Itemid=61

DUBLIN TRIBUNAL FINDS AGAINST SRI LANKA ON CHARGES OF WAR CRIMES

http://www.warwithoutwitness.com/ – Genocide of Tamils

http://www.cwvhr.org/ – Center for War Victims & Human Rights


http://www.notosrilanka.com/ – Boycott Sri Lankan Products