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Thousands of Tamil protestors gathered in Geneva on Monday to call for an international criminal mechanism that will see justice served for mass atrocities committed in Sri Lanka.
Protestors from across Europe came to the United Nations Human Rights Council, as member states gathered to discuss a resolution on Sri Lanka. People had travelled from the United Kingdom, France, Italy and across Switzerland to take part in the demonstration, which drew thousands of people.
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Holding Tamil Eelam flags and placards calling for an international mechanism of accountability, protestors chanted “we want justice” and “stop genocide”.
Banners held by the demonstrators denounced a domestic mechanism and called on the United Nations not to fail the victims of mass atrocities again.
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Posters of those killed by the Sri Lankan military, including Tamil parliamentarians and school children, were displayed alongside the disappeared, including Fr Rev Francis Joseph, who was last seen in May 2009.
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Meanwhile, inside the UN Human Rights Council members states discussed the draft of a resolution on Sri Lanka, which currently calls for “ international investigators, prosecutors and judges” to help prosecute violations of international humanitarian law. It was today dismissed by Sri Lanka as “repetitive, judgemental and prescriptive”.
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