Majority Tamil Councillors from North, East request OHCHR to investigate genocide

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 August 2014, 07:36 GMT]
“Tamil people strongly believe that they have been, and continue to be subjected to Genocide by Sri Lanka […] Systematic Sinhalese settlements and demographic changes with the intent to destroy the Tamil Nation are taking place. We request the OHCHR investigative team to look into the pattern of all the atrocities against the Tamil people, and to determine if Genocide has taken place,” states a joint letter by the majority of the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) and Tamil opposition councillors form the Eastern Provincial Council (EPC). 28 elected Eezham Tamil councillors from the 38-member Northern Provincial Council (NPC) and 5 of 11 opposition Tamil National Alliance members from the Eastern Provincial Council (EPC) have sent the letter to United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navaneetham Pillay on Monday.

The letter also urges the OHCHR investigative team to consider conducting its investigation in the State of Tamil Nadu in India.



The three-point requests from the Eezham Tamil councillors follow:

1. We request that the OHCHR investigative team, using the authority of the OHCHR, to look into all the past violations against the Tamil people at least from 1974 when the killings of Tamil people by the Sri Lankan forces started. There were several major incidents of massacres of Tamilsin the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, and none of them were properly investigated by the Sri Lankan government.
   
   
2. The Tamil people strongly believe that they have been, and continued to be subjected to Genocide by Sri Lanka. The Tamils were massacred in groups, their temples and churches were bombed, and their iconic Jaffna Public Library was burnt down in 1981 with its collection of largest oldest priceless irreplaceable Tamil manuscripts. Systematic Sinhalese settlements and demographic changes with the intent to destroy the Tamil Nation, are taking place. We request the OHCHR investigative team to look into the pattern of all the atrocities against the Tamil people, and to determine if Genocide has taken place.
   
   
3. If the Government of Sri Lanka continues to reject entry forthe OHCHR investigative team, we request that the team considers conducting its investigation in the State of Tamil Nadu, India.

NPC Councillor and former MP M. K. Shivajilingam, NPC Councillor Ananthy Sasitharan, NPC Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Environment Ponnuthurai Ayngaranesan, NPC Minister of Fisheries, Transport, Trade and Commerce B. Deniswaran, NPC Minister of Education, Cultural Affairs and Youth Affairs T. Gurukularajah, NPC Minister of Health and Indigenous Medicine P. Sathiyalingam, NPC Deputy Chairman Antony Jeyanathan, NPC Councillor and former MP Darmalingam Sithadthan, NPC Councillors Pasupathy Ariyaratnam, Emmanuel Arnold, Ayoop Azmin, B. Gayatheepan, Gnanaseelan Gunaseelan, Ramanathar Indirarajah, Vinthan Kanagaratnam, V. Kanagasundraswamy, Marykamala Kunaseelan, T. Linganathan, A Paramsothy, S. Pasupathipillai, M Thiyaka Raja, Thurairajah Ravikaran, Kandiah Sarveswaran, Kesavan Sayanthan, Primus Siraiva, Sivapragasam Sivamohan, Velupillai Sivayogan, S. Suhirthan and Eastern Provincial Council members from the opposition Niththiyanantham Indrakumar, Thavarajah Kalaiarasan, Gnanamuththu Krishnapillai, Kumarasamy Nageswaran and Rassiah Thuraireththinam have signed in the joint letter.

Chronology: