Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

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‘Where is the LTTE?’ Lawyer challenges terror charges against jailed Tamil rapper
  The lawyer representing detained Tamil rapper Sangeethsan Ganeskumar challenged allegations that his client sought to revive the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during proceedings before the Jaffna Magistrate's Court this week, arguing that the material cited by police contains no reference to the organisation or its leadership. Sangeethsan, better known by his stage name…

Cross-party UK MPs call for hybrid court to investigation Sri Lankan crimes

Sep 15, 2015
A cross party group of British MPs called on the international community to establish a special hybrid court to ensure accountability and justice for mass atrocities in Sri Lanka during the final stages of the armed conflict in 2009, as recommended by the report by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Wednesday.

“We are shocked by the UN’s report into human rights abuses and war crimes at the end of the civil war in Sri Lanka. The report makes harrowing reading, and presents evidence of gross human rights abuses suffered by mainly Tamil civilians at the hands of Sri Lankan government forces and the Tamil Tigers," the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPG-T) said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The UN’s report only came about because the UK and other members of the UNHRC demanded an independent investigation into human rights abuses in Sri Lanka, an investigation that the Sri Lankan government attempted to block."
 
“Today’s report is not the end of the Tamil people’s struggle for justice, it is barely the beginning. The people of Sri Lanka desperately need reconciliation. But true reconciliation can only take place after proper accountability for the grave human rights abuses set out in the UN’s report."
 

Tamil Nadu passes resolution calling for international inquiry in Sri Lanka

Sep 15, 2015
The Tamil Nadu state government on Wednesday passed a resolution calling on the Indian central government to back an international investigation into the mass atrocities committed during the end of the armed conflict in Sri Lanka.

"The Tamil Nadu assembly requests the Government of India that if the US takes a stand supportive of Sri Lanka (at the UNHRC), then India must take diplomatic efforts to change that," the resolution stated. 

The resolution, tabled by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, was passed only a few hours before the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights released the findings of the OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL) which called for a special hybrid court to be established.

UK must lead in seeking accountability in Sri Lanka - British MPs debate

Sep 15, 2015

Reconciliation in Sri Lanka cannot take place without accountability, said British MPs while calling on the UK government to take a lead in seeking accountability for human rights abuses in Sri Lanka.

Moving a debate Tamil Rights in Sri Lanka in Westminster Hall on Tuesday, James Berry MP, chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils, said "it is beyond sensible dispute that thousands of civilians were killed in [the] no-fire zone."

On Sri Lanka's reaction to the UN Panel of Experts report, Mr Berry said,

"Instead of engaging with the UN report in a meaningful or sensible way, the Sri Lankan Government arrogantly rejected it, describing it as “fundamentally flawed” and “patently biased”. Sri Lanka did nothing to address the alleged human rights abuses at the end of the war. Not a single prosecution was instigated. It is reasonable to surmise that the Sri Lankan Government hoped that the international community would turn the other way."

UPFA MP calls for immunity for Sri Lankan troops from war crimes charges

Sep 15, 2015

The Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) General Secretary and UPFA MP Udaya Gammanpila said that his party would propose an Act of Indemnity to protect Sri Lankan troops from war crimes charges.

Speaking in Sri Lankan parliament on Tuesday, ahead of the release of a United Nations investigation into the mass killings of Tamil civilians, Mr Gammanpilla said:

“The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) report on Sri Lanka will be published tomorrow. If the report calls for war crimes charges to be levelled against our war heroes, we will present an Indemnity Act in parliament to provide them legal immunity”.

“This Act is not something new,” added the MP.

“Even Sri Lanka has implemented it at least thrice to protect our officials. Once it was brought in 1915 by the State Council with regard to the Sinhala, Muslim riots and twice by UNP governments to protect officials from being questioned for any action taken during the 1977 and 1987 riots.”

Mr Gammanpila went on reassure Sri Lankan soldiers that the PHU's Ranaviru Legal Aid Foundation was “ready to protect them” from any war crimes charges.

‘UN HRC must not fail families of Sri Lanka's dead and disappeared’ - HRW

Sep 15, 2015
The UN Human Rights Council must not fail the victims of Sri Lanka’s dead and disappeared and ensure that a credible justice and accountability involves a majority of international judges and an independent international prosecutor, said Human Rights Watch (HRW).

In a statement delivered to the UN Human Rights Council the non-governmental organisation outlined three elements that are “crucial” for the council to ensure a credible accountability process in response to the UN High Commissioner’s much-anticipated investigative report on Sri Lanka.

“First, the resolution will need to set out concrete benchmarks for an effective justice and accountability mechanism, including a majority of international judges in an independent system, an independent international prosecutor, and measures to ensure that the applicable law for the mechanism will include customary international humanitarian law, notably command responsibility,” said HRW.

UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka pledges assistance towards reconciliation

Sep 15, 2015

The UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka, Subinay Nandy, said the global body would provide technical assistance and contributions to advance reconciliation and find a sustainable solution to the longstanding ethnic grievances, reports ColomboPage.

Mr Nandy met with President Maithripala Sirisena on Tuesday, ahead of the release of a United Nations investigation into violations of international humanitarian law committed during the final stages of the armed conflict.

US congressional caucus discuses accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka

Sep 15, 2015
A congressional caucus event on the Path Forward for Accountability, Peace and Reconciliation in Sri Lanka, was held by the Senate Human Rights Caucus on Tuesday.

Panellists discussed issues relating to the need to demilitarise the North-East of Sri Lanka, further trust building initiatives between the victim community and the need for genuine accountability to deal with mass atrocities in Sri Lanka.

The director of the No Fire Zone documentary, Callum Macrae, stressed that victims had no confidence in a domestic process and warned that “what Sri Lanka says to the rest of the world is very different to what it enacts on the island.”

UN must act on call for hybrid justice process in Sri Lanka – FFT

Sep 15, 2015

Freedom From Torture called on the UN Human Rights Council to follow through on a United Nations report into violations of international humanitarian law committed on the island that was released earlier today and ensure that a justice process has “strong international participation”.

The UK based charity’s Director of Advocacy and Policy Sonya Sceats said:

Recommendations of OISL report must be implemented - HRW

Sep 15, 2015
The Geneva director for Human Rights Watch John Fisher called on the international community to respond robustly to the Human Rights High Commissioner's recommendations to Sri Lanka and incorporate them into a resolution that is adopted by this session of the UN Human Rights Council.

See full statement below.

The High Commissioner's report marks a significant step towards justice and accountability for the victims of international crimes and the family members of Sri Lanka’s dead and disappeared.  The international investigative team has extensively documented alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, including torture, executions and enforced disappearances.

Strong UNHRC resolution needed to help war victims says Chief Minister

Sep 15, 2015

Strong UNHRC resolutions calling for international investigation mechanisms and action to alleviate oppression in the North-East will be vital to fulfil the needs of war victims, the Chief Minister of the Northern Province has said.

Speaking at the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) committee meeting on Friday, the Chief Minister, C V Wigneswaran said:

Tamil Nadu passes resolution calling for international inquiry in Sri Lanka
UK must lead in seeking accountability in Sri Lanka - British MPs debate
UPFA MP calls for immunity for Sri Lankan troops from war crimes charges
‘UN HRC must not fail families of Sri Lanka's dead and disappeared’ - HRW
UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka pledges assistance towards reconciliation
US congressional caucus discuses accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka
UN must act on call for hybrid justice process in Sri Lanka – FFT
Recommendations of OISL report must be implemented - HRW
Strong UNHRC resolution needed to help war victims says Chief Minister
TAG welcomes OISL reports, urges UN to deliver on prosecutions
Tamil Nadu passes resolution calling for international inquiry in Sri Lanka
UK must lead in seeking accountability in Sri Lanka - British MPs debate
UPFA MP calls for immunity for Sri Lankan troops from war crimes charges
‘UN HRC must not fail families of Sri Lanka's dead and disappeared’ - HRW
UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka pledges assistance towards reconciliation
US congressional caucus discuses accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka
UN must act on call for hybrid justice process in Sri Lanka – FFT
Recommendations of OISL report must be implemented - HRW
Strong UNHRC resolution needed to help war victims says Chief Minister
TAG welcomes OISL reports, urges UN to deliver on prosecutions