10,000 Tamils rally at UN

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 April 2001, 21:23 GMT]
Over ten thousand Tamils rallied outside the United Nations building in Geneva on Monday calling for international pressure on Sri Lanka to negotiate with the Liberation Tigers and to support of the Tamil right to self-determination. Tamil expatriates converged from several European cities by special trains and busses to take part in the annual peace march through the main streets of Geneva to coincide with the occasion of the 57th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR), organisers said.

The protesters called upon the Sri Lankan Government to reciprocate the unilateral cease- fire of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and to end the economic embargo on areas not controlled by the Sri Lanka Army.

A resolution issued at the end of the rally also called for a political solution based on the existence of a Tamil Homeland, Tamil right to self-determination and Tamil nationhood.

The resolution also expressed dismay that Britain has included the LTTE in its list of banned terrorist organisations.

The protestors called upon the international community to persuade Sri Lanka to cease its "reign of terror" and to lift the bans imposed on the LTTE so as to enable the Norway facilitated talks. They also urged the international community not to forcibly deport Tamils until a permanent political solution is found.