Call for an Inquiry into Allegations of War Crimes in Sri Lanka!

To the Honourable President and members of the Senate in Parliament assembled:
The petition of the undersigned shows:

It has been two years since the end of the civil war in Sri Lanka. May 2009 saw the conflict between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) reach an end. A UN Panel of experts report that the

Government Of Sri Lanka engaged in

• Killing of civilians through widespread shelling
• Shelling of hospitals and humanitarian objects
• Denial of humanitarian assistance
• Human rights violations suffered by victims and survivors of the conflict, including both IDPs and suspected LTTE cadres
• Human rights violations outside the conflict zone, including against the media and other critics of the Government

It also reports that the LTTE engaged in

• Using civilians as a human buffer
• Killing civilians attempting to flee LTTE control
• Using military equipment in the proximity of civilians
• Forced recruitment of children
• Forced labour
• Killing of civilians through suicide attacks

Your petitioners ask/request that the Senate: Urge the Australian Government to call for an independent, international inquiry into alleged War Crimes and violations of Human Rights by the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in order to bring about justice and aid in reconciliation.