Incidents referred to by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) oral update on its investigation into mass atrocities in Sri Lanka form “a larger pattern aimed at creating conditions of permanent subjugation of the Tamil people,” said the Leader of the Tamil National People’s Front, speaking at the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, speaking on behalf of Collectif des Femmes Africaines du Hainaut at the oral update of the OHCHR inquiry into Sri Lanka, labelling the ongoing subjugation of Tamils a “structural genocide,” said,
Full Statement reproduced below:
Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, speaking on behalf of Collectif des Femmes Africaines du Hainaut at the oral update of the OHCHR inquiry into Sri Lanka, labelling the ongoing subjugation of Tamils a “structural genocide,” said,
“Most of the incidents referred to by the oral update are part of a larger pattern aimed at creating the conditions of permanent subjugation of the Tamil people as a whole - a process of de-Tamilsation which we interpret as the structural genocide of the Tamil Nation in Sri Lanka. An honest and forthright appreciation of the problems that face the Tamil people is fundamental and we call upon the OHCHR to conduct the inquiry in this spirit.”Welcoming an expansive interpretation of the 25/1 (A/HRC/25/1) resolution, adopted by the council in March, Ponnambalam further called for the UN to directly contact and protect Tamil witnesses providing information in the North-East of Sri Lanka, whilst giving further attention to the Eastern province.
Full Statement reproduced below:
Our organisation welcomes the oral update on Sri Lanka by OHCHR. We also welcome the expansive interpretation of resolution 25/1 (A/HRC/25/1). We particularly welcome the High Commissioner’s statement that the inquiry team ‘is giving priority to gathering and corroborating first hand information’.
As the High Commissioner is fully aware, the vast majority of those who can provide first hand information are Tamils who continue to live in North-East Sri Lanka. As the overwhelming victims, the urge to provide evidence to the inquiry is very high among the Tamil people. Further, a comprehensive inquiry will not be possible or complete without accessing these witnesses on the ground. Accordingly we urge member states to come up with a strategy that will provide these witnesses an opportunity to submit their direct evidence to the OHCHR inquiry.
There has been much focus on the Northern Province, whilst the Eastern Province has been equally affected both, during and after the war. For example, the heinous crimes committed in 2009 in Mullivaikkal in the North compares to what happened in 2007 in Vaharai in the East, and the land grab in Sampur in the East is as serious as the land grab in Valikamam in the North. We urge the OHCHR inquiry to give sufficient attention to the Eastern Province.
We note with concern the oral update’s failure to acknowledge that the Tamil people are being targeted because of their national identity. The fact that religious minorities such as the Muslims and Christians can be mentioned by name for being targets, makes the refusal to mention the Tamils by name all the more disappointing.
Most of the incidents referred to by the oral update are part of a larger pattern aimed at creating the conditions of permanent subjugation of the Tamil people as a whole - a process of de-Tamilsation which we interpret as the structural genocide of the Tamil Nation in Sri Lanka. An honest and forthright appreciation of the problems that face the Tamil people is fundamental and we call upon the OHCHR to conduct the inquiry in this spirit.