The Sri Lankan Genocide

The island of Sri Lanka, situated in the Indian Ocean off the southern tip of India, is an exquisitely beautiful and spiritual place. Torture, rape and random killings have been perpetrated by the military and pro-government paramilitaries. Underpinning this war has been Western military aid and political support. This reflects Sri Lanka's strategic significance, but also that the military, political and theocratic elites that rule Sri Lanka maintain Western domination of the economy that still follows the colonial export-oriented model (FRONTLINE). The Tamils of South India frequently invaded Sri Lanka. They wished to control the island's wealth and people. However, at the times Tamil involvement in the island was equally the result of rivalries within the sinhalese leadership. The strife between political or military leaders became chronic and caused permanent damage. General fought general, innumerable rivals for the throne struggled against each other, and armies of south Indian kingdoms joined in when it might be to their advantage. The central government began to lose control over its territory. As a result, in the fourteenth century, an independent kingdom of Sri Lankan Tamils arose in the norther most part of the island (Zimmermann). The SLA's war against the Tamil population has involved some of the world's worst war crimes. Civilians have been targeted: orphanages and hospitals have been regularly bombed. Starvation sieges have been imposed, including after the December 26, 2004 tsunami. The conflict has its roots in the mistreatment of the minority Tamil ethnic group, who are mostly Hindu, by the majority Sinhalese, who are mainly Buddhist. When the Buddhist Sinhalese-dominated government did not meet Tamil civil rights demands, Tamil grievances festered (FRTONLINE). Ensuring adequate humanitarian

assistance to internally displaced persons is first and foremost a Government responsibility, especially since the Government decided to intern