Urgent

Tuesday April 7, 2009

President Barack Obama

Dear Mr. President

Re: Five measures to achieving sustainable peace in Sri Lanka

As a great and courageous leader of the free world who has demonstrated a willingness to take a fresh look at global conflicts and their underlying facts with an open mind, devoid of bias and prejudice, we turn to you following your own mantra yes we can, founded on the audacity of hope to help facilitate the five measures advocated herein to achieving peace in Sri Lanka.

We seek your help because we believe you and you alone can persuade your international allies including India and act in concert to address the crisis in Sri Lanka.

We appeal to you to act with urgency to help broker a ceasefire, to end the war in Sri Lanka and to creating the climate for peace talks between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), to forge a just political settlement, recognizing the historical habitat of the Tamil homeland, the Tamil peoples right to nationhood and self-rule and facilitating the re-establishment of a free, independent and sovereign state, named Tamil Eelam in the island of Sri Lanka.

We ask that, as an important and crucial first step, you lead the international community in de-proscribing the LTTE as a foreign terrorist organization so that they could participate as equal parties to the negotiations, representing Tamils both in the Tamil homeland and also those in the Tamil Diaspora. The vast majority of Tamils wanting an independent Tamil Eelam stand solidly behind the LTTE. Through its unwavering dedication to liberating the Tamil nation, its benevolence, its disciplined and highly principled lifestyle and farsighted vision the LTTE has earned the trust of the Tamil people and right to be their sole representatives.

Just as the USA granted recognition to the Kosovo Liberation Army that it had once proscribed, paving the way for Kosovos independence and is prepared to talk to peace loving members of even the Taliban towards peace in Afghanistan, we ask that the ban on the LTTE be lifted to enable peace talks to begin in earnest.

Sri Lanka's pattern of gross violations of human rights and humanitarian law include:
Acts amounting to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity including Genocide by targeting and killing Tamil civilians and by bombing and shelling schools, hospitals, refugee centers, churches and temples & areas declared as safe zones
The killing of children and placing them at risk.
The alleged use of poison gas
Starvation and denial of medical care for Tamil civilian victims
Arbitrary arrests and detention without charge
Rape and torture and other forms of cruel, inhumane & degrading treatment in concentration camps
Extra-judicial killings and disappearances
Denial of freedom of speech and freedom of movement
Political repression
Media blackout and refusal to allow access to International and non-governmental organizations

The most compelling reason for an independent Tamil Eelam would be the need to save the children and provide a safe and secure environment for them to live, grow and prosper which every child is entitled to under the UN Conventions on the Rights of the Child.

Mr. President, news releases dated Monday 6th April 2009 allege that the Sri Lankan government had dropped poison gas bombs supplied by India to commit mass murder and kill thousands of Tamil civilians and cadres and commanders of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The use of poison gas is a heinous crime. Saddam Hussein was accused of using poison gas to commit mass murder of his own citizens. Its use in Iraq earned Chemical Ali the death sentence. Poison gas has been banned since the First World War. Hence this matter needs to be urgently and thoroughly investigated and if found true should be used as justification, amongst other crimes, for hauling President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa and General Sarath Fonseka in front of the International Criminal Court and prosecuting Gothabaya Rajapaksa (American citizen) and Sarath Fonseka (green card holder) in the American courts. And the country that supplied the chemical weapons has to share responsibilty for perpetrating this heinous crime.

We are sending you a background summary (separate document) which explains the now non-negotiable stand of the Tamils for an independent Tamil Eelam. It is an important statement of facts and events that would substantiate the position taken by the Tamils to be read in conjunction with our Appeal )

We appeal to you to help facilitate the following five measures:

1. For the US and its allies to help broker a ceasefire between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE
2. For the US to engage the LTTE and lead the de-proscription of LTTE by the International Community
3. Initiate peace talks between the Sri Lankan government and LTTE
4. Recognize the historical habitat of the Tamil homeland, the Tamil peoples right to nationhood and their right to self-rule
5. Facilitate the re-establishment of a free and sovereign state as previously existed, creating an independent Tamil Eelam in the island of Sri Lanka

We hope you would remember your great country, Americas war of independence and the circumstance surrounding it when you consider the five measures.

With you as the new US President we stand at the threshold of a new beginning. The world waits in awe for Change to take place that would also we hope make a difference for the oppressed and persecuted people of the world. We commend you for coining the phrase Yes We Can to inspire and motivate Americans that all things are possible and true to your word, you won the presidency, despite being the underdog as a young Senator, with a Muslim middle name, of African American lineage in a white dominated America. The catch phrase has ignited the imagination of people, providing a morale boost not only to Americans but also to others, who are pinning their hopes and dreams on you to create a better world.

Your timely intervention to facilitate the five measures is paramount to achieving a just, viable and sustainable peace in Sri Lanka.

Yours truly