Leaders from parties which make up the Tamil National Alliance have rejected proposals for a domestic investigation into the mass killings of Tamils carried out during the final stages of the armed conflict and reiterated their support for an international accountability mechanism.
The Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO), Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) and the People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) met in Colombo and agreed that only an international mechanism would bring about true accountability and justice.
M. K. Shivajilingam, a Northern Provincial Council member, recalled the failure of past domestic Sri Lankan commissions that had a degree of international involvement, such as the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons that was constituted in February 2007.
"As a partner of the TNA, the TELO dismiss an internal investigation and will continue to demand an international investigation," he said.
"The internal investigation by Sri Lanka into war crimes that happened in Sri Lanka will never bring justice. The diaspora and Tamil Nadu Tamils must join hands with the Eelam Tamils and our demands should reach the UN, otherwise we will be cheated," he added.
He went on to add that Sri Lanka was not a signatory to the Rome Statute and thus could circumvent adequate punishment for the grave crimes that took place.
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A United Nations report into the mass atrocities committed is due to be released at the upcoming UN Human Rights Council session in September.
The United States said it will be working with the new government of Sri Lanka and other key stakeholders to follow up on the investigation, after senior US officials visited Sri Lanka and announced the US would support the Sri Lankan government in creating a credible domestic process to address accountability and reconciliation.
Since the announcement the Tamil National Alliance and over 40 civil society organisations reiterated their calls last week for an international mechanism to address accountability.