African National Congress urges ceasefire in Sri Lanka
Full Text of ANC Press Release:
The African National Congress (ANC) expresses its very serious concern at the unfolding humanitarian crisis that is emerging on the Island of Sri Lanka.
The United Nations and International Red Cross Committee has reported that over 300 000 civilians of Tamil origin are caught in the crossfire in the war that is currently raging in Sri Lanka between the fighters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) who have retreated into the jungles of The Vanni in the north of the Island
This liberation war between the Tamil Tigers for self determination and the Sri Lankan Government has been going on for well over 27 years and has resulted in the deaths of hundreds and thousands of civilians from both sides of the conflict and much destruction in the country.
The continued conflict in Sri Lanka has been cited on the "human rights watch" international monitoring mechanisms as a conflict now reaching genocidal proportions.
The ANC urges all parties in the conflict, both the LTTE and the Sri lankan Government to call a halt, immediately institute a ceasefire and allow humanitarian aid to be brought to civilians caught in the conflict who are in dire need of assistance. The ANC calls on all political players to immediately return to the negotiating table and resume a peaceful process of finding a lasting political solution to the conflict.
Issued by:
Carl Niehaus
National Spokesperson
Enquiries:
Carl Niehaus 072 343 4007
Brian Sokutu 071 671 6919
ANC: South Africa's National Liberation Movement
5 Comments
Thanks for expressing your concern for the Tamils who are being massacred in their hundreds almost daily now. The successive Sinhala governments of Sri Lanka has had genocidal intentions for decades, if not longer. This is precisely what the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) have been fighting with very limited resources, as the international community have most regrettably connived with Sinhala governments of Sri Lanka to deprive the LTTE of its ability to acquire resources to fight the Sinhala Army, Navy and the Air Force. The relentless aerial bombardment alone has cost many Tamil civilian lives over the years, which could have been easily prevented had the LTTE been able to acquire surface-to-air anti-aircraft missiles. A small group of Tamil Tigers (LTTE) had to fight a force many orders of magnitude greater than itself which is well-resourced and funded.
Sri Lankan governments have never honoured a single pact or understanding reached with them by the Tamils. Only in January last year the Ceasefire Agreement signed between the widest possible spectrum of Sinhala political parties in government and the LTTE in February 2002 was unilaterally abrogated against the wish of the international community.
The urgent need of the hour, therefore, is to impress upon the Sinhala government of Sri Lanka to restore that Ceasefire Agreement!
President Rajapakse must realise the more and more our
national question becomes internationalised, the more
and more our image in the world suffers. The ostrich-like stance we have so far adopted must yield to
rational and wise thinking - pronto.
ISS
The ANC sees it, but some other major countries are being BLIND!
I think ANC should mind their own business. This is the LTTE diaspora's dollars talking to bail out Prabha and the gang. India quite correctly provides the guidence here this time. Everyone else should follow suit
There is no doubt that we all respect Nelson Mandela and his comrades who formed the ANC that played a memorable role in fighting off the apartheid in South Africa. However, from what I see in this brief press release, it seems as if the ANC or maybe a few of its powerful individuals may have been influenced by a faction of Sri Lankan diaspora, who are sympathetic towards the rebels. I think that the ANC should have done their homework before indirectly accusing the Sri Lankan Government of genocide, although the Government is immensely trying to rescue the Sri Lankan civilians in the North from the clutches of the LTTE. If the Government disregarded the lives of the civilians during the past few days, this war would have been ended within matter of hours. Therefore, I respectfully suggest, that the ANC should be more careful in giving misleading statements that taint the reputation of their own esteemed organization.