Grassroot mobilisation strengthens demand for international investigations

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 September 2015, 23:41 GMT]
Northern Provincial Councillors M.K. Shivajilingam and Ananthy Sasitharan, who were on a walk from Ki'linochchi to Jaffna rejecting domestic mechanism on war-crimes accountability and demanding international investigations on genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, concluded their campaign on Monday in Jaffna. In parallel, a signature campaign was mobilising the grassroots in North and East. In the meantime, the officials at the UN complex (UNHCR, WFP), declined to receive the appeal from the NPC councillors stating that there was no appropriate officer to receive their appeal, an act that was severely criticised by the NPC councillors. The NPC councillors handed over the copies of their appeal to the Indian mission in Jaffna and to the Chief Minister of NPC Justice C.V. Wigneswaran.





Amidst the mobilisation of the NPC councillors from 10 September and the signature campaign undertaken by the civil groups and political activists, a move by ITAK parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran to pass a party decision against NPC Chief Minister on 11 September miserably failed.

Mr Sampanthan, chairing the ITAK meeting was watching the articulate opposition from ITAK members against domestic mechanism, informed ITAK sources told TamilNet.

Meanwhile, a three member team, comprising Mr Sumanthiran and two others, including a pro-US legal operative in Colombo, has been sent to Geneva on behalf of the TNA.

NPC Chief Minister Justice Wigneswaran who received Mr Shivajilingam, Ms Ananthy and Mr Sitharthan, told them that there was no question regarding the legal expertise of the team dispatched to Geneva. However, there were questions on their ability to perceive and present the real nature of the crimes that have taken place against the Tamil people.

Sri Lankan Intelligence operatives have been harassing those who took active role in the walk, Ms Ananthy Sasitharan told TamilNet.

The intelligence operatives have visited the houses of the activists who took part in the walk along with the two NPC councillors, she said. The operatives were taking photographs and behaved in an intimidating way, Ms Ananthy said.