Tamil Solidarity organised an urgent protest in front of the Sri Lankan High Commission in London yesterday demanding an immediate unconditional release of Jaffna University students.

Their demands were: 

• Immediate release of all Jaffna University students 
• Drop all charges against them 
• Release all political prisoners 
• End the attacks on all democratic rights now – including freedom of speech and the media, freedom of association and the right to free and fair elections, the right of all to vote without interference, freedom to stand in elections for parties which accept equal rights for all, regardless of nationality, religion, caste and sex. Support the work of bodies like the Civil Monitoring Committee investigating kidnappings, disappearances and extra-judicial murders. 
• For a democratic struggle to end Rajapaksa’s dictatorial regime
• Defend the right to self-determination! Support a mass movement of Tamil workers and poor for the right to determine their own future. Full and equal rights of any minorities to be guaranteed in all areas. Allow the right of self-determination of the Tamil-speaking people, up to and including secession, according to their wishes, while safeguarding the rights of all minorities.  

Speaking at the protest the Socialist Students national organiser Claire Laker-Mansfield explained that students in the UK were shocked at the brutal treatment meted out to students in Jaffna after they tried to organise a memorial event to remember the people who lost their lives in the war. She said students in great numbers would protest the fact that students in Sri Lanka may be arrested and could be held for up to 18 months without charge, a huge transgression of democratic rights.

The organiser for Youth Fight for Jobs, Paul Calanan explained that young people and working class people would understand that this action by the Sri Lankan regime was nothing to do with protecting the safety of ordinary people in Sri Lanka. But it has everything to do with trying to stamp on every sign of protest.

Rob Williams, national chair of the National Shop Stewards Network, pledged to build solidarity and protest across it. He said, the links between Tory MPs, who are happy to accept hospitality from the Sri Lankan regime with so much blood on their hands, would be exposed.

Pete Dickenson, a member of the UCU university lecturers’ union pointed to the role of other brutal regimes such as that of China and explained that a united struggle of students and workers will be needed.

Sarah Sachs-Eldridge from Tamil Solidarity apologised to the neighbours of the embassy for disturbing them but appealed to them to join the growing protest movement against the regime that slaughtered over 100,000 in the final phase of the war alone in 2009.  She explained that this would only be our first protest and also that Tamil Solidarity groups would protest around the world.

Sarah reported on the launch in Sri Lanka of a campaign by lefts and others, the Movement for the Release of Political Prisoners.

She also explained that to fight the dictatorial regime we could have no faith in the UN or the governments across the world who represent the super-rich 1% elite. Instead we can take inspiration from the masses who rose up in North Africa and the Middle East and in Europe and fight for of the Tamil-speaking people and all oppressed.

All the speakers sent a solidarity massage to the students in Jaffna and demanded their immediate release, and the release of all the political prisoners in Lanka.