An Amnesty International-organized demonstration held in front of the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the UN in New York on Friday, 11th April was blatantly infiltrated by sympathizers of the LTTE living in the US and Canada.

Amnesty International billed this demonstration as an effort to protest to the Sri Lankan Government against harassment and killing of several media personnel in Sri Lanka, claiming that most victims were Tamils.

Over 200 Americans, mostly students assembled near the Permanent Mission on Third Avenue, near UN Headquarters, noisily protesting against the Government of Sri Lanka. Making use of this opportunity, LTTE sympathizers who were Tamils of Sri Lankan origin, raised placards that were obviously in support of the LTTE, with slogans such as "Sri Lanka stop bombing Tamil civilians" and "Sri Lanka stop torturing Tamil prisoners", all similar to the line taken by LTTE sympathizers at this juncture to avert military pressure on LTTE.

It is regrettable that Amnesty International has allowed and apparently joined hands with LTTE sympathizers to bring discredit to Sri Lanka, in favour of the LTTE agenda in the guise of promoting human rights.