Report: Yuva Balan from Malaysia
As the UN Secretary General Mr Ban Ki Moon was scheduled to arrive in Malaysia on the 21st of March, some of the sympathisers from the opposition parties of Malaysia along with Tamil Solidarity had taken the opportunity to assemble a protest group in front of the UN building. The protest was mainly centred on the war crime committed by Rajapakshe regime and the latest UN resolution which Malaysia chose to abstain.
Over 60 people gathered in front of the Malaysian UN building to express their anger. The general agenda of the assembly focused on opposing the ruling parties’ decision to be silent on the latest UN resolution. One memorandum was given to be passed to Mr Ban Ki Moon by the organizer Mr Arumugam.
We in Tamil Solidarity campaign prepared a memorandum with our demands for the oppressed people in Sri Lanka. Leaflets from the Tamil Solidarity website were distributed and some placards were prepared by the members. In our leaflets we listed our 9 demands which is:
1. A comprehensive independent investigations into war crimes and crimes against humanity.
2. Withdraw the troops.
3. No to detention camps
4. Stop military, financial or political support for the Sri Lanka regime.
5. Democratic rights for all.
6. Support independent trade unions.
7. Allow access to international human rights groups and NGOs.
8. Immediately stop the colonization of the Tamil areas.
9. Defend the right to self-determination for Tamils.
We also included the above demands in our memorandum to UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon. Our memorandum was received by a representative of Ban Ki Moon. Although we in Tamil Solidarity do not have any illusion that international bodies such as the UN will solve the issue of Tamil speaking people in Sri Lanka, we saw this event as a venue to reach out to the ordinary people for support of our organization. This is the first event joined by the Tamil Solidarity organization in Malaysia and we hope to build a powerful organization here.
