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Thousands of Tamils from across Europe have been demonstrating in front of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, calling on the international community to launch an independent, international investigation into mass atrocities in Sri Lanka.
By 17:30, as more and more demonstrators arrived and the numbers of Tamils swelled, Swiss police officers arrived attempting to confine the demonstration.
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Traveling from across Europe, including the UK, Germany, France, Norway, as well as Switzerland, demonstrators called on UNHRC member states to strengthen the draft resolution tabled on Sri Lanka last week, and demanded that the inquiry should have the scope to investigate war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, through out the entire ethnic conflict and that a referendum be held across the Tamil nation on independence.
The demonstration was organised by the Tamil Coordinating Committee (TCC).
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Expressing deep disappointment over the UNHRC's failure to call for an Commission of Inquiry, Tamils demanded justice for the over 146,679 Tamils who remain unaccounted for.
Speaking to the Tamil Guardian, S. Mathi, a 24 year old Tamil protester from Germany said,
"We've waited five years for justice. Five years - for this? The current draft resolution is not justice. It's giving Sri Lanka more time to destroy Tamils."
See here for report on TamilNet with further details.
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