The Tamil Civil Society Forum, a network of civil society activists in the North-East, said it was "extremely disappointed" by the UN Human Rights Council decision on Monday to delay the publication of the findings of a UN inquiry into mass atrocities committed against Tamils in Sri Lanka by six months.
"Victims who engaged with the OISL see the postponement as completely unnecessary and as a possible final blow to any further search for accountability through international means. Given their lack of confidence in any domestic mechanism delivering on accountability, Tamils are afraid that the delaying of the report signals an end to the hope for accountability, truth and justice in Sri Lanka, in its entirety," the TCSF said in a statement released on Friday.
"We wish to point out with utmost disappointment that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Council and the relevant states had ignored the unequivocal request from all sections of the Tamil polity not to delay the release of the report. The announcement of the deferral sadly reminds us of 2008 when the UN left Kilinochchi contrary to the wishes of the local population to remain with them and provide humanitarian protection."
Commenting on the Council and the UN High commissioner's reasons for deferring the report, including the promise of broad cooperation by the new government and the hope of new information, the TCSF expressed scepticism over whether the Sirisena led government would deliver.
Stating that in the past month of the new government taking office there had not been any significant improvements in those human rights issues that significantly and directly affect the Tamil people, the TCSF detailed the continuation in policies pertaining to the Tamil people in the North-East between both the previous and current government.
"The promise on the part of the Sri Lankan Government to allow for a visit of the High Commissioner and that of the UN Working Group on Disappearances we suspect have instrumental motives of wooing international opinion in their favour while not delivering on substantial issues. This expressed willingness to engage with UN mechanisms sits in contradiction to the Sri Lankan Government’s position of rejecting the UNHRC resolution of 2014 and the OISL inquiry."
"We insist that the High Commissioner should officially request the Government for the OISL team to have access to Sri Lanka. If not it will only strengthen the understanding that the deferral of this report was made for extraneous political considerations."
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