Do not approve IMF loan, Senators tell Clinton

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 June 2009, 12:55 GMT]
"With the [Sri Lanka] government still refusing to address any of the major concerns that you [Secretary of State Clinton] and others have raised, we believe it would send the wrong signal to approve the IMF loan. It would suggest that to gain international support, the Sri Lankan government did not need to heed the world community's concerns; it merely need to win the war. Before receiving major financial support, the government should first take at least some steps to reassure the world that it is adjusting its policies, by allowing access to the conflict area and international monitoring of the screening process...," said Senators Patrick Leahy and Robert Casey in a letter to the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Friday.

The Government should further assure the world by "placing the IDP camps under civilian control, releasing IDPs and reuniting them with their families, and pursuing reconciliation with critics rather than squashing dissent," the Senators added.

Senator Robert Casey, chairman of Foreign Relations Subcommittee
Senator Robert Casey, chairman of Foreign Relations Subcommittee
Senator Patrick Leahy, current chairman of the Judiciary Committee
Senator Patrick Leahy, current chairman of the Judiciary Committee
"Sri Lanka was the first humanitarian and human rights crisis to emerge on the Obama administration's watch, and your response and the President's have been strong and principled," the Senators said, in what appears as an indirect response to an earlier Time Magazine article which said that Obama was failing the test on dealing with the first humanitarian disaster his administration faced.

"As you know, the final months of the conflict in Sri Lanka took a terrrible toll on civilians, in part because the LTTE unconsciounably held hundreds of thousands of civilians as human shields, but also because government forces indiscriminately shelled the area where these civilians were concentrated. Despite repeated appeals from President Obama, as well as from the United Nations and many other governments, the Sri Lankan government continued to target these civilians, and to prevent humanitarian groups from helping those who managed to flee. To this day, against all evidence, the government denies that its actions caused any harm to Tamil civilians - a position that will make reconciliation even more difficult to achieve," the Senators said.


Chronology:


External Links:
Time: Sri Lanka Puts Obama to the Test — and He's Failing

 

Latest 15 Reports
21.09.24 16:12   Photo
JVP always denied Eezham Tamils’ inalienable self-determination: Anthropology scholar
18.09.24 21:30   Photo
Sinhala leftists need careful perusal of Lenin’s definition of Right to Self-Determination
30.08.24 15:27   Photo
Viraj exposed West’s criminalization of Tamil struggle
30.08.24 09:08  
‘பொதுச்சபை’ நகர்வை ‘சிவில் சமூக அமையம்’ தரும் படிப்பினைகளின் கண்கொண்டு நோக்குதல்
20.08.24 17:59   Photo
Viraj teaches Zone of Peace, Peace Process, Crimes Against Peace
18.08.24 21:23   Photo
Viraj Mendis: A beacon of international solidarity and a pillar in the Eelam-Tamil liberation struggle
18.08.24 16:47   Photo
Viraj in Tamil Radical Politics
18.08.24 11:27  
மூலோபாயத்தையும் தந்திரோபாயத்தையும் தொலைத்த தேர்தல் அரசியலைத் திருத்த இயலுமா?
17.08.24 12:15   Photo
விராஜ் மெண்டிஸ் விட்டுச் செல்லும் நிரப்பவியலா இடைவெளி
04.02.24 15:40   Photo
சியோனிசம் காணும் தோல்வி ஈழத்தமிழருக்குப் பலன் தரவல்ல படிமை மாற்றத்தின் அறிகுறி
24.04.22 05:44  
தீவின் நெருக்கடிச் சூழலில் ஈழத்தமிழர் தேசம் கடைப்பிடிக்கவேண்டிய நிலைப்பாடுகள்
09.04.22 14:44   Photo
குறிதவறும் ஈழத்தமிழர் தலைமைகளுக்கு வரலாறு தருகின்ற எச்சரிக்கை
21.01.22 07:24   Photo
ஈழத்தமிழர் தேசத்தின் தலைமைத்துவம் தேர்தல் அரசியற் கட்சிகளுக்கு அப்பாலானது
02.11.21 15:32   Photo
13 ஆம் சட்டத்திருத்தத்தால் கட்டமைக்கப்பட்ட இன அழிப்பை எதிர்கொள்ள முடியுமா?
15.09.21 08:19  
English version not available
 
Find this article at:
http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=29539