A coalition of Tamil organisations welcomed the UN Human Rights Council's adoption of the resolution on Sri Lanka, paving the way for a comprehensive international investigation, and expressed hope "that submission of the findings to the UN Security Council would pave the way for International Criminal Court prosecution for those crimes to ensure justice."

In a joint statement published Sunday, British Tamils Forum (BTF), Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America (FETNA), Ilankai Tamil Sangam, People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL), Solidarity Group for Peace and Justice in Sri Lanka, Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE), United States Tamil Political Action Council (USTPAC) and World Thamil Organization (WTO), stressed that violations against the Tamil people continued, and there was an urgent need for demilitarisation, and for international oversight on the protection of witnesses, survivors and human rights defenders.

"Further, the resolution comes short of adequately recognizing the Sinhala military occupation of Tamil areas and the urgent need for demilitarization of the North and East. The overwhelming military presence in Tamil areas perpetuates ongoing illegal land acquisition (land grabs), state-aided demographic changes, destruction of ancestral properties, school and temples, coercive contraception of Tamil women, and sexual violence with impunity.

Given the above, and mindful of the barriers the Government of Sri Lanka might place on an impartial international investigation, we urge the United Nations to institute an international protection mechanism to ensure the physical security and dignity of witnesses, survivors and human rights defenders. We also urge the UN Secretary General to seize the matter under Article 99 of the UN Charter.

We wish to reiterate that the root cause of Sri Lanka’s conflict is the continuing and pervasive human rights and humanitarian law violations by successive Sri Lankan governments, primarily aimed at destroying the Tamil ethnicity, and amounting to genocide of the Tamil people on the island."

Expressing gratitude at the resolution sponsors and co-sponsors, the organisations, whose members include Americans with Tamil Nadu heritage, described India's abstention was "deeply disappointing".

"While Tamils the world over appreciate the well-intended efforts of the 23 nations that voted to adopt this resolution, we regret India’s opposition to the establishment of an international investigation. India’s history of moral leadership and courage, coupled with its unique cultural and intellectual affinity with Eelam Tamils, makes its abstention and vote against the operative paragraph establishing an investigation deeply disappointing."

See here for full statement.