Tamil activists resisted three sources of outside influence while drafting demands to UNHRC

Tamil national parties demand UN to inquire into crime of genocide and set up IIIM

All the three alliances of the Eezham Tamil national political parties in the island have come together demanding the UN Human Rights system and the Member States of the UNHRC to inquire into the crime of genocide and raise unaddressed accountability issues to higher forums. A referral to the International Criminal Court and an evidence-gathering mechanism similar to the International Independent Investigatory Mechanism (IIIM) established by the UN for Syria in 2016, were among the four main demands. The joint letter by the Tamil political parties and the Tamil civil society organisations on the ground including the families of the people subjected to enforced disappearances, also demands the President of the UNHRC to refer the matters on accountability back to the UN Secretary-General for action. They also want the OHCHR to monitor current human rights violations on the ground. Full story >>

Colombo destroys Mu'l'livaaykkaal memorial monument at Jaffna University

The occupying SL military and the police have razed to the ground Mu'l'livaaykkaal Tamil genocide monument, situated within the premises of the University of Jaffna. The destruction took place Friday night sending shockwaves across the occupied homeland and the diaspora. Despite the students' protest, the SL military went ahead bulldozing the statue. The Tamil people and their civic leaders who rushed to the site to protest were blocked at the university entrance. The Sinhala military and police personnel used abusive language against the protesters, the students said. The destruction has taken place a day after Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar wrapped up his three-day visit to Colombo. In the meantime, Tamil political party leaders are scheduled to discuss their demands to the United Nations on international investigations of Tamil genocide on Saturday. Full story >>


3RD LEAD

Boyle prefers IIIM demand over ICC-referral, says specific reference to genocide essential

The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) has made it clear that it will not cooperate with the UNHRC. It is time for the UNHRC to take action against the GoSL, said Professor Francis Boyle, an international law expert who teaches at the University of Illinois College of Law in the USA. Human Rights High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet could forward the situation to the Security Council or the General Assembly if she wants to, he said, responding to a set of questions coming from the Tamil politicians on the ground. However, getting a new resolution with specific reference to genocide is essential, Prof Boyle said. “You have to keep up the reference to genocide. This is the gravamen of your Complaint against the GoSL.” Asked whether he preferred the demand for ICC-referral over the IIIM demand, he said: “I would go for the IIIM along the lines of Syria and for the same reasons”. Full story >>

TNPF's reluctance, NGO-meddling pose challenges to formulating joint Tamil demands to UN: Shivaji

The three alliances of Tamil national parties with SL parliamentary representation have entered into negotiations to formulate joint demands to the UN System on two key issues. Firstly, the parties discuss how to demand the UN System to specifically address the crime of genocide, which was lacking in the UNHRC-led process so far. Secondly, they debate how to effectively request the UN system to prosecute those responsible for genocide and the already established crimes in the UN findings. Although the Tamil parties have been brought into a negotiation process, mainly by the larger community's efforts, there remain two key challenges, according to veteran Tamil politician and activist M.K. Shivajilingam. The first challenge was the reluctance shown by the Tamil National Peoples' Front (TNPF) to discuss the main demands with an open mind with other Tamil alliances, parties and politicians. Full story >>

Occupied Tamil Eelam marks Heroes' Day indoors, SL military detains seminary principal

The Police of the occupying state of genocidal Sri Lanka detained a Tamil Catholic priest, S. Baskaran, who is the principal of St. Martin’s Seminary while conducting Tamil Eelam Heroes’ Day remembrance at the entrance of the seminary, located near the Bishop’s House in Jaffna. Amidst tightened harassment from the SL military and the police against public remembrance events, the people and their political representatives resolvedly and emotionally marked the commemoration lighting flames of sacrifice inside their premises. The mobilisation for indoor remembrance has drawn the attention of the younger generation of Tamils like never before in the post-2009 context, journalists in Jaffna said. All the occupying Sinhala soldiers and the police personnel were deployed in the public places, junctions and along the road everywhere, reminding the people the level of military occupation. Full story >>

Tamils risk Kashmir-like status revocation if Gota continues Trinco military cooperation with US

Certain quarters have been misplacing the significance of the recent visit of US State Secretary Mike Pompeo to Colombo vis-à-vis the national question of the Eezham Tamils. SL President and Commander-in-Chief Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s choice to continue the already on track military cooperation with the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) is the determining factor, particularly at the strategic port city of Trincomalee of the occupied country of Eezham Tamils. One has to judge the geopolitical orientation of the SL State based on the defence-related choices being made and not based on polemics of Rajapaksa's ‘non-alignment’, or the escalating ‘predator’ vs ‘friend’ rhetoric between the US and China. Wherever Pompeo goes, be it London or Colombo, this rhetoric is the same. Full story >>