Yesterday the Government of Sri Lanka shelled a hospital killing 50 people, and a home for mentally ill women, killing 38. This follows Sunday’s shelling of the same hospital, which killed hundreds.
The ongoing slaughter stems from the LTTE keeping civilian hostages and the government ignoring those hostages.
I received the following email appeal from the co-directors of IICPÂ (The Institute for Integrative Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding, based in Austria). I have met both co-directors, Gudrun Kramer and Wilfried Graf, and have worked with Gudrun several times in Sri Lanka. She is as serious about ending the conflict as I am, and I have no problem recommending this petition. The appeal reads:
Dear Friends,
We are currently circulating a petition relating to the current urgent humanitarian emergency in Sri Lanka . The petition calls for both fighting parties in Sri Lanka to cease hostilities and focus on protecting the lives of the civilians caught in the crossfire which is causing a humanitarian disaster. This disaster is unfolding as you read this. Right now, thousands have already lost their lives. Tens of thousands more civilians are at risk of loosing their lives to the ongoing fighting, as they are caught inside the last 4 or 5 square kilometers still under LTTE control, with the Sri Lankan Army closing in. A military approach to resolving the current situation will necessarily involve a large scale loss of civilian life. Every voice which comes to the defence of the civilians trapped by the violence is a reminder to the fighting parties that the cost in terms of civilian lives is unacceptable and counterproductive to peace in both the short and long term.
We hope that you can support this petition, and will add your name via the link below. Please also forward this petition as widely as possible to your own networks.
Sincerely yours,
The IICP StaffInstitute for Integrative Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding
Gasometer B – Schild
Guglgasse 8/4/4/18
A-1110 Wien