US-agenda Tamils fail sabotaging Asia-Pacific Greens resolution on Genocide

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 June 2015, 21:24 GMT]
The 3rd Congress of the Asia-Pacific Greens Federation, held in Wellington, New Zealand, between 12-14 June has successfully resolved urging international investigations on the allegations of genocide, war-crimes and the ongoing human rights abuses in the island of Sri Lanka, despite reluctance coming from a section of Australian Green Party, influenced by US-agenda Tamils against such a resolution, informed sources in New Zealand told TamilNet. For their ‘reluctance’, Australian Green Party sources privately cited ‘conflicting messages’ coming from Tamil activists. The Australian Tamil Congress (ATC), which is a member of the so-called Global Tamil Forum (GTF), the GTF ‘strategic initiative’ director Mr Suren Surendiren and TNA's nominated parliamentarian Mr M.A. Sumanthiran have met the Australian Greens in March to influence them towards their agenda, the sources further said.

Catherine Delahunty MP of the Green Party of New Zealand proposed the resolution on Tamils in the island.

A section of the Australian Green Party was reluctant to accept the terms Genocide and Self-Determination in the resolution.

However, after much debate, the following resolutions succeeded in getting passed at the conference:

• Notes the ongoing violence against the Tamil community in Sri Lanka, and concerns about military presence in the North, self determination, land rights, and human rights abuses;
  
  
• Notes the deadline of the twenty-eighth session of the UNHRC for tabling of the report into human rights and accountability in the Sri Lankan civil war, and urges the timely release of this report;
  
  
• Recognises the need for an international investigation into the Sri Lankan civil war, including allegations of genocide, human rights abuses, and war crimes, and ongoing human rights abuses in Sri Lanka.
  
  
• Condemns the inhumane treatment of asylum seekers, including Tamils, and call on international governments, in particular Australia, to uphold their obligations under international law.

While all the other resolutions of the Congress were passed unanimously, only the resolution on Eezham Tamils was put to much debate, thanks to the Tamil elements influencing the Australian Greens, the sources in New Zealand told TamilNet.

The Australian Green Party has always been steadfast in showing justice to the cause of Eezham Tamils. The present signs of reluctance come after the so-called regime change in Colombo and the position taken by some ‘articulators’.

It becomes increasingly clear that the whole exercise of ‘solutions hoodwink’ talking of crumps, pivots around the point of ‘closing files’ on international investigation, genocide and self-determination questions, thus erasing even traces of diplomatic balance of Eezham Tamils, commented Tamil political observers in Australia and New Zealand.



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