 Photograph: Remembrance event in Boston
Courtesy of Tamil American Peace Initiative (TAPI) on Twitter. |
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 Photographs: US House Foreign Affairs Committee "Sri Lanka's Killing Fields" screening and discussion Courtesy of USTPAC.
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In Northern California Bay Area, representatives from various diaspora organisations, as well as representatives from Amnesty International and the local City Council were in attendance at a remembrance event held earlier this week.
Support was received from the many diverse communities of California, including communities from Darfur, Kosovo and Armenia, with many Rwandan Americans in attendance to remember those who had passed.
Rwandan community member Vincent Mugabo told the crowd that the world also stood by during the Rwandan genocide of 1994 and called on the Tamil people to continue their pursuit of justice and accountability.
Those present at the event also wrote down their memories, thoughts and dreams into a time capsule that would be re-opened in 5 years.
See the full press release from the United States Tamil Political Action Council (USTPAC) here.
Meanwhile, Representatives Bill Johnson and Michael Grimm hosted a screening of “Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields” and the follow up “War Crimes Unpunished” at the US House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The event consisted of a discussion after the screening with a panel which included Scott Gilmore (Center for Justice and Accountability), Ali Beydoun (American University, Washington College of Law), and representatives from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Crisis Group.
A “Justice for Genocide” rally and candlelight vigil was also held in front of the United Nations in New York, with Ms. Suba Suntharalingam, one of the organisers stating,
“In the absence of credible international investigations to ascertain the truth, we Tamils hold the Sri Lanka government responsible for the deaths of up to 146,000 Tamil civilians in the final months of the blood bath on the beaches of the Tamil homeland.”
Further events were also held in Raleigh, Columbus and Boston.
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Photographs: Remembrance event in Boston
Courtesy of Tamil American Peace Initiative (TAPI) on Twitter. |