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ADVOCACY ACTION 1
(For US decision-makers who do not have publicly available email addresses.)
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Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton
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Web form for Hillary Clinton
Topic: select "Ask the State Department"
Subject: As one ordinary citizen, I am asking for your help
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Vice President, Joe Biden
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Web form for Joe Biden
Zipcode: Write in 20006 (this is zipcode for the UN building in Washington DC) if you do not have an American address
Subject: Select "I have a policy comment"
Subcategory: Foreign Affairs Country: select your country of residence or citizenship
Select Subject: I have a policy comment
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Senator John Kerry, Chair, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Note: John Kerry's webform is set up to accept correspondence only from individuals with a US address. If you do not have a US address, we have suggested a way around this below.
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Web form for John Kerry
Address: Write in "900 17th St NW" (the UN building in Washington DC) if you do not have an American address
City: Write in "Washington" if you do not have an American address
State: Select "District of Columbia" if you do not have an American address
Zipcode: Write in 20006 (zipcode for the UN building in Washington DC) if you do not have an American address
Topic: select "Foreign Relations"
Insert Subject: As one ordinary citizen, I am asking for your help
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Senator Robert (Bob) Casey, Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs
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Web form for Bob Casey
Street address: Write in "900 17th St NW" (the UN building in Washington DC) if you do not have an American address
City: Write in "Washington" if you do not have an American address
County: Leave
State: Select "DC" if you do not have an American address
Zipcode: Write in 20006 (zipcode for the UN building in Washington DC) if you do not have an American address
Message Topic: select "Foreign Relations" Comments: Copy and paste message
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__________________________________________
Message:
I am writing to urge you take action now to help stabilize the peace in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka 's 25-year civil war ended in May, but the post-war peace is fragile. How the Government of Sri Lanka chooses to treat its Tamil minority now will be the number one factor that determines whether the people of Sri Lanka enjoy long-term peace, or suffer renewed conflict.
I ask you to use all means available to you to convince Sri Lanka 's top decision-makers, President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Secretary of Defence Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, to:
1. End the involuntary confinement of all IDPs in government-run camps.
Short term passes and transfers to other camps are not acceptable.
It is absolutely unprecedented for a government to treat Internally Displaced Persons in its care as prisoners, and to convert IDP camps into internment camps. Even understanding the highly sensitive security situation, those who wish to leave the camps must be allowed to do so.
2. Resettle 80% of IDPs in camps by December 31, 2009, as promised. Resettlement includes ensuring all basic needs of IDPs in camps are met, (re)construction of homes, long-term care for the elderly and disabled, education, livelihood training, and the resumption of community services, an independent media and democratic local governance.
3. Address the core grievances of the Tamil people
by removing the official and legalized supremacy of the Buddhist religion and the Sinhala language.
4. Stop Sri Lanka's massive military build-up.
The Sri Lankan army is undertaking a peacetime 50% increase in soldiers from 200,000 to 300,000 to enforce peace in the Tamil-populated northern province. This course of action is much more likely to spark renewed conflict than to be the foundation for real peace.
I urge the US Government to withhold all development and economic aid until the Government of Sri Lanka has reduced its military to the immediate post-war size or smaller. Sri Lanka only has funds to pursue such a bellicose policy because governments around the world subsidize the Sri Lankan budget with hundreds of millions of dollars in aid.
With respect,
[YOUR FIRST NAME]
[YOUR LAST NAME]
[YOUR ADDRESS (optional)]
[ YOUR CITY ]
[YOUR COUNTRY]
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