Posts Categorized: Politics

India Abandons the Tamils

India which voted for the earlier resolutions of the USA against Sri Lanka in the UN Human Rights Council this time kept mum until March 27th, while enacting dramas of hopes for Tamils. To the shock and dismay of all Tamils internationally, the TNA, Human Rights groups including the USA, India somersaulted and abstained from… Read more »

Inducing Fear

That this escalation in militarisation occurred at a time when the international community was scrutinising Sri Lanka is unsurprising. Intended to prevent a repeat of the protests even during the British Prime Minister’s visit to Jaffna, the arrests of prominent campaigners took place as the UN Human Rights Council began, effectively silenced any popular expressions… Read more »

UN Inquiry Just the Start of a Long Road to Justice

Sri Lankan human rights activists campaigned hard for an independent international commission of inquiry into war crimes during the end of the conflict in 2009. Last month members of the UN Human Rights Council did finally vote to set up an inquiry. To many governments it looks as if the issue of accountability is now… Read more »

The National Question

Pictures courtesy ‘Colombo Telegraph,’ March 31, 2014 BERNARD SOYSA CENTENARY COMMEMORATION MEETING at Tamil Sangam Hall, 57th Lane, Colombo – 06 at 5 p.m. Bernard Soysa Centenary Memorial Oration Gururbrahma .. Mr. Chairman, distinguished Guests, my dear Brothers & Sisters. It is indeed ironic that we are remembering a stalwart among our Majority Community Parliamentarians of… Read more »

ICJ: UN Investigation Offers Hope to Victims in Sri Lanka

The UN Human Rights Council resolution to establish an international investigation into allegations of human rights violations and abuses committed by both sides in Sri Lanka’s civil war gives hope to tens of thousands of victims who continue to be denied truth and justice. “The resolution sends a strong message to the Government of Sri… Read more »

US Official Comments on UNHRC Resolution on Sri Lanka

Secretary of State John Kerry 03/27/2014 10:09 AM EDT UN Human Rights Council Vote on Sri Lanka Reconciliation Press Statement John KerrySecretary of State Washington, DC March 27, 2014  Today’s vote in the UN Human Rights Council sends a clear message: The time to pursue lasting peace and prosperity is now; justice and accountability cannot… Read more »

UNHRC Resolution Promoting Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka

Human Rights Council Twenty- fifth session Agenda item 2 Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General Albania,* Austria, Belgium,* Bulgaria,* Canada,* Croatia,* Cyprus,* Denmark,* Estonia, Finland,* France, Georgia,* Germany, Greece,* Hungary,* Iceland,* Ireland, Italy, Latvia,* Liechtenstein,* Lithuania,* Luxembourg,* Mauritius,*… Read more »

Facing a War Crimes Inquiry, Sri Lanka Continues to Vex the U.N.

UNITED NATIONS — What to do with Sri Lanka? The island nation, triumphant after nearly three decades of war against ethnic separatists, has vexed the United Nations. Five years after the war’s brutal ending, the world body has been unable to address grave human rights violations committed by the warring parties, making Sri Lanka something… Read more »

Why a UN Probe of Sri Lanka Would Spark New Hope for Reconciliation

Five years ago, Sri Lanka’s civil war reached a bloody conclusion on a stretch of beach in the island’s northeast, as government forces pummeled the remnants of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and thousands of Tamil civilians trapped near them. The government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, flush with triumphalist fever, insisted it had done… Read more »

The Forever War?

by International Crisis Group, Brussels, March 25, 2014 The heavy militarisation of Sri Lanka’s northern province after the civil war’s bloody end in 2009 has been the subject of growing domestic andinternational concern. The large numbers of military personnel in the north, and the deep involvement of the military in the province’s governance, endanger the re-establishment of… Read more »

The Lord Business

UN is no Tamil’s string of pearls. Let’s just be honest.  The current UN resolution as it stands will not bring impactful change to the Eelam Tamils. What it does though is to keep a door ajar.  It is a sensible beachhead strategy.  It is so because that is where the final act will play… Read more »

Sen. Menendez Letter to HCHR

Menendez Letter to UNHR High Commissioner for HR Pillay Re Sri Lanka R… FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 19, 2014 Contact: adam_sharon /A_T/ foreign.senate /D_O_T/ gov (Menendez) Chairman Menendez Expresses Support for an International Investigation into Sri Lankan War Crime Allegations WASHINGTON, DC – Chairman Menendez wrote UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay to express… Read more »

Healing the Wounds of a Bitter War

It will be highly difficult for Sri Lanka to establish long-term peace without fixing accountability for the war crimes During the week of March 24, the U.N. Human Rights Council countries will be asked to show where they stand on a resolution on Sri Lanka. That resolution seeks to support the U.N. High Commissioner for… Read more »

U.N. Council Steps In Where Sri Lanka Has Failed to Act

There was a time, not so long ago, when Sri Lanka was known for the quality of its democracy. In 1975, when I was a Foreign Service officer at the U.S. Embassy there, the country was in economic straits but proud of its international reputation for an independent political culture, a feisty press, and a… Read more »

3 Activists Held in Sri Lanka, Raising Fears of Crackdown

NEW DELHI — Fears of a broad crackdown against rights activists in Sri Lanka have been heightened after the Sri Lankan police recently arrested two prominent human rights advocates and a woman who has made a public campaign of finding her missing son. The arrests took place just as the United Nations Human Rights Council… Read more »

MP Shivajilingam Statement

Shivajilingam_GenevaStatement_10March2014 SriLanka_NPC_Resolution_Jan2014_English Statement from Hon M.K.Shivajilingam, Member of Northern Provincial Council, Sri Lanka Presented to the UN Diplomats in Geneva, Switzerland on March 10, 2014 Your Excellencies, Honorable Members of the UN Human Rights Council, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am an elected Member of Northern Provincial Council in Sri Lanka, and I stand here today… Read more »

Accountability in Focus

Dr. Singh… once again brought up the most critical issue that affects the Tamils of Sri Lanka’s Northern Province: the Army’s brazen occupation of vast areas of civilian land. Dr. Singh asked Mr.Rajapaksa to pare the Army presence in the North. No doubt, the mellow mood in the Sri Lankan ruling establishment comes from the realisation that slowly but steadily the UN Human Rights Council, and, by implication, the international community, is becoming tougher on the issue. In the long run, there is no escape from a credible investigation that establishes accountability. And the question of the political rights of Tamils remains to be addressed with a measure of seriousness and urgency.

Statement by TNA Leaders on Draft Resolution

TNA Response to the Draft Resolution_March 2014 TNA Response to the Draft Resolution_March 2014 The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has given careful consideration to the draft resolution on Sri Lanka proposed at the 25th sessions of the Human Rights Council by the United States of America, the UnitedKingdom, Montenegro, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and… Read more »

Primacy of Accountability

Last week’s opening of the UN Human Rights Council’s 25th session gave rise to strong and welcome calls from key member states for an international inquiry into Sri Lanka’s mass atrocities. That Sri Lanka is not going to investigate the horrific crimes for which its leaders are responsible and that accountability depends entirely on an… Read more »