Time is of the essence

Left to the Sinhalese the future of the Tamils in Sri Lanka has no prospect. They are being subjected to great cruelty. The Sinhalese are lying as to their welfare. They are subjected to arbitrary violence and deprivation of liberty. There is no quality to their lives, no hope and no mercy from a venal and corrupt regime that displays all the qualities and attitudes of the Apartheid regime, with equal lack of care and interest over the people it has subjected to state control.

The Commonwealth Heads of Government are meeting in Perth from 28 to 30 October. Sri Lanka has violated and continues to violate every tenet of Commonwealth membership, the most basic being genocide. On this basis alone it should be suspended.

Zimbabwe was suspended for the basic transgression of the human rights of many of its citizens; Fiji was suspended for lesser crimes and for far less than Sri Lanka is guilty.

Sri Lanka is denying all human rights to members of its minority Tamil population. It should be suspended, but that will do little to change the horrible circumstances for members of the Tamil community.

A stepped approach might work better; if Sri Lanka were to be offered the prospect of staying in the Commonwealth if it allowed a monitoring force of 3000 to oversee and facilitate the provision of food, health and basic services to the Tamil population and oversee the withdrawal of the bulk of the Sri Lankan armed forces to military duties in areas away from the traumatised Tamil population.

The Sri Lankan military has its fangs around the throat of the defeated Tamils and they must be made to let go.

After basic infrastructure, health and other resources have been restored the Commonwealth might then use its good offices to broker a peace, allowing dignity and hope to be restored to both sides, but particularly to the vanquished Tamils.

Not to do so offers the prospect of further violence from the next generation of young Tamils, who are growing up without the benefit of formal education and against a background of deprivation and dislocation which will breed anger. Further mindless cruelty against Tamils trapped in this nightmare on Sri Lanka could also come, in time, to galvanise Tamils offshore.