Stop Sri Lanka’s bloody civil war:Andrew Dismore MP

Stop Sri Lanka’s bloody civil war: “Ministers must condemn the Sri Lankan government and make clear that the country faces expulsion from the Commowealth” - Andrew Dismore MP

(Andrew Dismore MP, Guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 4 March 2009) - We heard on a nightly basis about the events in Gaza earlier this year. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for what’s been happening in Tamil areas of Sri Lanka. …

There are also reports that particularly lethal cluster-bombs, banned white phosphorous and multi-barrelled rocket launchers have been fired on the civilian population. Hospitals have been bombed, as have places that the government has encouraged people to see as “safe zones”.

In many cases, the killings have been what independent observers would define as genocide, with whole communities killed in a form of ethnic cleansing. With the eyes of the world turned elsewhere, the Sri Lankan government has felt able to get away with this slaughter, despite condemnation from the Dalai Lama and the UN secretary general.

They mustn’t any longer. Ministers must condemn the Sri Lankan government and make clear that the country faces expulsion from the Commowealth – which expects its members to observe human rights – unless it allows the UN and aid agencies full access to the region.

I also hope our foreign secretary, David Miliband, will do his bit to ensure that a peaceful conclusion is reached to this bloodiest of wars. If we don’t act now, many more innocent people will lose their lives in the months ahead. More …

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Andrew Dismore is Labour MP for Hendon. He is chair of the parliamentary joint committee on human rights.