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In Memory of MP Joseph Pararajasingham

On his first death anniversary

Maamanithar Joseph Pararajasingham - Attained Martyrdom Christmas Eve 2005   

Mr. Pararajasingham was fatally shot at close range from behind by Sri Lankan paramilitary forces inside St Mary’s Church in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka on Christmas Eve, soon after receiving Holy Communion from His Grace Bishop Kingsley Swampillai.

Until now no one has been charged for the murder of Maamanithar Joseph Pararajasingam, although his assassins are well known. The killers are freely roaming the streets with impunity, only to perpetrate more atrocities against innocent civilians. Despite the fact that the names of the suspects were given to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse and he is fully aware of the identities of the assassins, they have not been brought to justice.

The situation is as it prevailed at the time of the assassination and now is no different, except that we now have Alan Rock, Adviser to the UN’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict adding his voice to what every one knew as ground reality: Speaking to Canadian Broadcast Corporation’s ‘Current’ program about his fact-finding mission to Sri Lanka and his assertion of clear and compelling evidence of (Sri Lankan) government complicity in the abduction of children by the Karuna faction he said, “I found the atmosphere in the country to be extremely negative.” Sri Lankan police were “unreliable”, the army “unresponsive particularly to Tamil needs and complaints”, the courts “politicized”, the Human Rights Commission devoid of “resources”, and there is “no one, no institutional body which will respond to human rights violations or protect the people. In that environment you have assassinations, abductions and bombings with no investigation. In places like Batticaloa there were young men walking down the street with AK47s with absolute impunity, who would shoot whoever they wanted to, with no follow up, no consequences, an environment which is terrifying.”

Our thoughts and prayers on this Christmas Day are with Mr. Pararajasingham's grieving wife and family and with all the other families and dear ones of victims of Sri Lankan State terrorism.

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Her Excellency Ms. Waldner Ferrero
Commissioner, European Union

December 25, 2006

Your Excellency,

Re: Culprits of the cold blooded murder of our beloved Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham MP are still at large!

One year has passed since the brutal, cold-blooded murder of our beloved Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham, MP, Executive member of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and a democratic Tamil leader.

The culprits of the horrendous crime of murdering a well-known MP and human rights activist on the holy day of December 25th 2005, while he was taking part in a midnight Catholic Church mass service in Eastern Sri Lanka, are still at large. The people who are supposed to be responsible for the safety and well-being of innocent civilians are the ones least concerned about their plight.

Since Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham’s murder, many prominent politicians, journalists, religious leaders and intellectuals have either been violently killed or abducted with impunity by the state's goons. These are the signs of an utterly failed state.

Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham, MP and Mr. Raviraj, MP were both brutally murdered for their uncompromising views in support of Tamil Nationalism. Their only crime was serving as elected democratic Tamil leaders; elected to represent Tamils’ legitimate aspirations in the Sri Lankan parliament.

To name a few whose lives have been violently cut short for an identical reason in the past few years: Mr.Nadasan, a BBC journalist, Mr.D. Sivaram (Taraki), a known English daily journalist, Mr. Sivagadasham (Principal of a school), Chandra Nehru, MP, and Raviraj, MP. In addition to these individuals, many more scholars and intellectuals have beenbrutally murdered by Sri Lankan armed goons.

The current hawkish regime of Mahinda Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka is deceiving the world and manipulating the global war on terror, and committing total genocide of the Tamils in Sri Lanka. The International Community should distinguish clearly between legitimate Tamil rights and the atrocities of the state against its Tamil citizens.

Yours truly,

E. S.

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