[IMC-UK-Features] Feature proposal: Attacks On Tamils Continue - Westminster Bridge Besieged

[wietse]

Hiya,

I'd like to propose the following feature for publishing on UK,
repression and social struggle pages.

Attacks On Tamils Continue - Westminster Bridge Besieged
https://we.riseup.net/imc-uk/attacks-on-tamils-continue-westminster-bridge-besi/

Cheers, Wietse

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Attacks On Tamils Continue - Westminster Bridge Besieged

Image: http://tinyurl.com/ptq99e

<p>
As attacks by the national army in Sri Lanka have intensified, so do the
protests around the world. After the news of thousands of civilian
deaths in Sri Lanka at the weekend, which the UN has described as ‘a
bloodbath’, British Tamils began a civil disobedience protest on Monday
(11.05.09) in the hope that the British government might put genuine and
decisive pressure on Sri Lanka to stop the atrocities it is currently
committing. Five hundred began the protest at Parliament Square early in
the morning. Thousands more had joined them, at which point they moved
themselves onto Westminster Bridge and closed it off to traffic. Police
officers guarding them at that time were taken by surprise. The blockade
lasted until 3pm, at which time police resorted to physical attacks on
people in an effort to clear the bridge.</p>
<p>
More than 300,000 Tamils are currently under siege by the Sri Lankan
forces. Aerial bombardments and shelling of civilians are continuing.
Children and elderly are dying as a direct result of the aerial
bombardment. There has been increased violence in Sri Lanka following
the capture of Tamil territory. It is estimated more than 75,000 people
have already died in the conflict.</p>
<p>
<strong>Previous features:</strong> <a
href="/en/2009/04/427063.html">Large Protests Erupt In Support Of
Tamils</a> | <a
href="http://london.indymedia.org.uk/articles/1229">Tamil Blockade at
Parliament</a> (IMC London)</p>
<p>
<strong>On the newswire:</strong> <a
href="/en/2009/05/430157.html">Civil Disobedience Protest By British
Tamils Met With Police Brutality</a> | <a
href="http://london.indymedia.org.uk/articles/1347">Tamils Blockade
Parliament Square Again</a> (photos) | <a
href="http://london.indymedia.org.uk/articles/1375">Tamils Blockade
Parliament Sq</a> (photos) | <a href="/en/2009/05/429989.html">Bloodbath
unfolding in Sri Lanka | <a href="/en/2009/05/429979.html">Tamil
blockade of Parliament Monday 11th May</a> (photos) | <a
href="/en/2009/05/429973.html">"State terror in Sri Lanka - a Tamil
perspective" today at Resonance 104.4 FM</a> | <a
href="/en/2009/05/429893.html">Tamil protesters take to streets as the
GENOCIDE of there people gose on</a> | <a
href="/en/2009/05/429886.html">Urgent, westminster blockade happening
now</a> | <a href="/en/2009/05/429827.html">Tamils genocide: More than
2,000 civilians feared slaughtered in a single night</a></p>

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<p>
The British Tamils Forum have appealed to the British government to do
all they can to stop the massacre of Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka, the
fatal and final stage of the genocide of Tamils. The organisation says
they have received reports from the ‘safe zone’ in Northern Sri Lanka
which confirm that over 3,200 civilians have been killed and thousands
more have been injured in the 'past twenty four hours alone'. (11.05.09)
Rescue workers fear that the critical shortage of medicine and lack
medical facilities will add to this death toll. Sources further confirm
that the Sri Lankan forces continue to bombard the ‘safe zone’ with
K-fir jets, multi-barrel rocket launchers, cannons and cluster bombs.</p>
<p>
Meanwhile at the homefront Metropolitan Police continue to be criticized
for their heavy handed approach in dealing with the protesters. <em>"It
wasn’t until 3 o'clock in the afternoon that the police began to
seriously challenge the blockade. Women with children in pushchairs had
placed themselves at the front of the crowd, in the hope that this would
deter the police from attacking them. Eyewitnesses report that the
police responded by taking the children out of the pushchairs by force
and removing them to nearby police vans, which succeeded in forcing the
parents to leave the blockade so as to reclaim their children. Women and
youngsters of around ten and eleven were still at the front of the
protest, and the police then began attacking them. An eyewitness
reported that the police were pushing women’s breasts and striking out
at children with their fists. It is said that representatives of the
Tamil media outlet GTV were also targeted by the police and attacked
physically."</em> Taken from report by <a
href="/en/2009/05/430157.html">Daniel</a>.</p>