Worldwide Protest Against Amnesty International

Tanya DeSilva For Consortium of Sri Lanka Expatriates

Mr. McDonald:

When you stamp your concerns on a cricket ball, especially now when the World Cup Games are on, you cannot evade the fact that you have dragged in the sport of cricket to the conflict. You biasness could be clearly felt because you only said, “Sri Lanka Play by the Rules” and no mention of the terrorists outfit. Anybody fighting for the division of Sri Lanka are not considered Sri Lankans. This is particularly in bad taste as there is no so called discrimination in the game of cricket.

Since 1983 LTTE has been regularly going on killing sprees (suicide bombing, massacres of women, children and elderly while they are asleep, targeting political opponents, etc), for over 20 years the answer we Sri Lankans got from AI is “WE ARE ONLY CONCERNED ABOUT STATE SPONSORED TERRORISM”. If you talk about discrimination, our past Foreign Minister, Lakshman Kadiragama (1994 – 2005) was a Tamil. If you want to make a direct comparison, this is equal to Israel having a Palestine Foreign Minister. For more information please go to www.helahanda.com. You can see the last census of 1982, before LTTE started this unjust war, what facilities and freedom the people of the East and North enjoyed.

If you want more information about the truth, we are willing to meet you in a Forum.

Tanya DeSilva

For Consortium of Sri Lanka Expatriates

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From: Jim McDonald [mailto:JMcDonald@aiusacs.org]
Sent: Friday, April 13, 2007 7:22 AM
To: tdesilva_law@verizon.net
Subject: AI's "Play by the Rules" campaign

I am the Sri Lanka Country Specialist for Amnesty International USA. Your message was forwarded to me by the AIUSA staff. Below is a press release issued by AI yesterday on the "Play by the Rules" campaign. If you have any further concerns or questions, I'd be happy to try to respond to them.

Jim McDonald

Sri Lanka Country Specialist

Amnesty International USA

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE

AI Index: ASA 37/010/2007 (Public)
News Service No: 070
12 April 2007

Sri Lanka: Human rights is the issue, not cricket

The distortion in Sri Lanka of Amnesty International's campaign "Play by the Rules" is a ploy to distract attention from the increasingly desperate plight of hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankan people.

"We are concerned at abuses by all parties to the conflict -- civilians are killed, abducted and forcibly disappeared every day at the hands of government forces, Tamil Tigers, the Karuna faction and other armed groups," said Purna Sen, Asia Pacific Director at Amnesty International. "Let us be clear -- no side in this conflict has anything to be complacent about. On the contrary, all parties are breaching international law by failing to protect civilians."

Increasing abductions, illegal killings and child recruitment in Sri Lanka are all going on unchecked and victims do not receive justice. The intensified fighting over the last year has forced over 300,000 people to flee their homes. At least 1000 people have been forcibly disappeared since the beginning of 2006.

"The situation in Sri Lanka has become so desperate for local people that urgent action is needed. Civilians desperately need better protection and a key goal of our campaign is to press for independent human rights monitors to investigate human rights abuses and identify the perpetrators, so they can be brought to justice," said Purna Sen.

"Through our campaign we are drawing attention to the increasing human rights abuses committed against civilians by the Sri Lankan government, the Tamil Tigers, the Karuna faction and other armed groups. The lives of hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankans are being affected -- our campaign is about these people, not the Sri Lankan cricket team."

"The Sri Lankan government is failing in its responsibility to protect civilians; there have been over 4000 deaths since early 2006 while this government has been in power. Reported accusations that Amnesty International has 'tarnished the country's image' do not bear scrutiny -- the authorities need to look closer to home," continued Purna Sen.

"The Tamil Tigers have killed hundreds of civilians in summary executions and indiscriminate bomb attacks. They are continuing to forcibly recruit child soldiers and have even prevented civilians from fleeing the fighting in the North and East."

"It is a small step for all parties to the conflict to agree to allow access to independent human rights monitors but it would make a huge difference to the lives of ordinary Sri Lankans."

"Cricket is a great game and the Sri Lankan people are rightly proud of their ethnically diverse national cricket team, which symbolises the best of Sri Lanka," said Purna Sen. "But hundreds of thousands of people have had to flee the fighting to live in temporary shelter -- and so are not able to live in safety let alone watch cricket."

Amnesty International emphasised that it was not calling for a boycott of the Sri Lankan cricket team or Sri Lankan sports overall and is not campaigning in any stadiums in the West Indies.