The Liberal Party of Canada called for the protection of the Tamil nation as part of a long term political solution in Sri Lanka and pledged to implement a travel ban on those in the Sri Lankan armed forces who may have committed war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

Announcing three pillars of Canada’s engagement with Sri Lanka, the Liberal Party stated on accountability it would “exercise universal jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute those perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide who may be in Canada” and that it would “implement a travel ban against those who might have been a part of the chain of command within the Sri Lankan armed forces”.

The party also said it would “continue to seek a criminal, international, independent, investigation into serious international crimes, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide for the period 1948 to date”.

On a long term political solution on the island, the party said that addressing “the legitimate grievances of Tamils and other minorities is required” and stated:

“We believe that the Tamil nation and other minorities must be protected”.

The third pillar of engagement would be supporting victims through local and Canadian NGOs and prioritising “trauma counselling of victims, the empowerment of women and the promotion of exchanges and partnerships with institutions affected by the war”.

“Our three pillars of engagement on Sri Lanka recognises the need to undertake the hard work necessary in attaining accountability, a political solution, and supporting the victims affected by the war on the island” said Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal Party candidate in Scarborough-Rouge Park.

“This is an important step in ensuring that Canada’s engagement on Sri Lanka is open, transparent and consistent with our international obligations,” he added.

Also see our earlier post: Liberal Party of Canada committed to prosecutions and travel bans on perpetrators of genocide in Sri Lanka (18 Sep 2015)