Geneva: Shocked Tamils mounted a vigil outside the United Nations headquarters in Geneva on Monday urging international action to help their minority after Sri Lanka declared a final victory over Tiger rebels.
About 100 protesters have been in place since late Sunday night, an AFP correspondent saw, with organisers claiming thousands of sympathisers are expected to descend on the site over the course of the afternoon.
"Stop killing Tamils right now," said one placard, while another read "it is better to have two countries at peace than one at war."
"As we speak, civilians are dying" in Sri Lanka, said protester Tharan Deivendran.
"We will remain here until (the international community) finds a solution" for injured and displaced civilians, added Maharajah Mahaventhan.
Swiss police said the protest was without incident to-date, but have deployed medical support.
Sri Lanka's military declared a final victory earlier on Monday in its decades-old conflict with the Tamil Tigers, after routing the remnants of the rebel army and killing its leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.
The declaration marked the end of one of Asia's oldest and most brutal ethnic conflicts which left more than 70,000 dead from pitched battles, suicide attacks, bomb strikes and assassinations.