A mass slaughter of civilians will take place Tuesday at noon. And everybody knows it.
Well, right now it's Wednesday afternoon in Sri Lanka, and this chilling promise from International Crisis Group's Robert Templar came to pass.
Yesterday we got confirmation that at least 1000 people were killed in the Sri Lankan Government's assault on a "safe zone" in the north of the island where over 100,000 civilians remain trapped between forces in an area of land "roughly the size of Central Park." This ongoing massacre has already eclipsed Srebrenica.
And the guy responsible? Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Sri Lankan Secretary of Defence: brother of the President, head of the military and US citizen.
http://www.alertnet.org/...
More from Robert Templar:
Cornered in a shrinking patch of coast in the Northeast of Sri Lanka, with little access to food, water or medicine the past three months, the civilians have remained out of the sight of most of the world [...]
The area the Sri Lankan government calls the "no fire zone" -- a sea of people, tents, and makeshift shelters on a sliver of jungle and beach -- is being shelled by the military. The Tamil Tigers are using the refugees there as human shields, preventing them from leaving. Available reports suggest 5,000 civilians, including at least 500 children, have died since mid-January, and more than 10,000 have been injured.
It is unquestionable that war crimes have already taken place. And the guy in charge, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, is a US citizen who used to manage a Seven Eleven in LA. His status as an American is reportedly a matter of great pride to him, and as with all small men, his pride could be his weak point.
The civilians in the north are running out of time. Rajapaksa needs to know that if he continues to authorize the slaughter, he will face consequences.
So I'm asking for suggestions about how to put Gotabaya's citizenship or even liberty under threat. Any ideas about how we can use his US citizenship to put pressure on him to stop the slaughter. As an example, from Answers.com (yeah, I know...):
In the case of Mc-Grain v. Daugherty (1927), the Supreme Court recognized that Congress could subpoena even private citizens to testify. The Court noted that since not everyone would volunteer needed information, "some means of compulsion are essential to obtain what is needed." Witnesses who refuse to respond to a congressional subpoena, or refuse to give information (unless they invoke their 5th Amendment protection against self-incrimination) may be found in contempt of Congress and sent to prison.
How do we get Congress to subpoena Gotabaya and drag him before congress before he continues the killing? Any other ideas?
As I said, 100,000 people are running out of time.