UN Human Rights Council 2014
Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam's (TGTE) Publication
Any failure on the part of the international community to act speedily in this matter will only encourage other ethnic chauvinists to embark on similar atrocities.— Professor M. Sornarajah
1) The Booklet shows that there has been a systematic and planned course of atrocities aimed at the Tamil people of Sri Lanka over a considerable time.
2) Any failure on the part of the international community to act speedily in this matter will only encourage other ethnic chauvinists to embark on similar atrocities.
3) It is necessary to ensure that no comfort is given to political and military leaders who commit atrocities against innocent civilians only because they belong to a particular or race.
4) If there is no prosecution of the atrocities against civilians in Sri Lanka, a chain of precedent that has been established in the prosecution of tyrants would be lost.
| by M. Sornarajah
( March 6, 2014, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) This Booklet “Remedial Justice for Tamils: Justice Delayed; Justice Denied - International Investigation Now”is issued by the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) to coincide with the opening of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Session in Geneva this month.
This Booklet was produced by the TGTE’s Center for the Prosecution and Prevention of Genocide. It is a transnational collaborative work of academics and activists.
This 74 page Booklet argues an International Investigation is urgently needed to investigate War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide in Sri Lanka. It supports its argument with documents from the UN, International Organizations and other independent sources.
It is futile to expect that justice will be meted out to Tamils through a domestic mechanism. As Professor Stephen Ratner, Member of the UN Secretary General’s Expert Panel, noted that "... [N]o environment to address accountability and dispense justice for these crimes exists domestically in Sri Lanka". In this context, justice demands that the international community step in to hold an impartial inquiry as to the allegations of war crimes and genocide committed by the Sri Lankan Government and its agents.
In the hope that the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) will initiate such an impartial inquiry, this Booklet begins with a description of the events leading to the atrocities at the end of the war in 2009. It surveys the reports and documents produced by the United Nations bodies as well as by other impartial groups. In view of the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights that there is a need for an impartial inquiry, the Booklet points out that such an inquiry be instituted without delay.
The attempts at prevarication by the Sri Lankan government indicates its effort at clouding the issues first by denial of atrocities and then by indicating the progress made at ethnic reconciliation in this context, it is incumbent on the international community to ensure that an inquiry into the allegations of war crimes and genocide be initiated.
Any failure on the part of the international community to act speedily in this matter will only encourage other ethnic chauvinists to embark on similar atrocities. The chain of precedents built up through the prosecution of other chauvinistic leaders should not be broken. It is necessary to ensure that no comfort is given to political and military leaders who commit atrocities against innocent civilians only because they belong to a particular or race.
The Booklet shows that there has been a systematic and planned course of atrocities aimed at the Tamil people of Sri Lanka over a considerable time. It reached its apex during the end of the war. But, the persecution of the Tamil people continues. There has been a continuation of military occupation of the Tamil homeland, dispossession from homes, a climate of fear induced through rapes and pillage, and a failure on the part of the government to investigate any transgression against Tamils that takes place.
The Booklet also documents the ongoing various crimes against the Tamil people living in the island of Sri Lanka. This Booklet brings together valuable information which will enable the prosecution of the alleged offenders.
The Centre, which sponsored this booklet, is committed to ensuring that the perpetrators of the genocide and war crimes in Sir Lanka are punished. This objective, the Centre knows, can only be achieved where there is impartial, quick and definite justice upon the commission of atrocities. That is why the Sri Lankan situation is of the utmost importance.
If there is no prosecution of the atrocities against civilians in Sri Lanka, a chain of precedent that has been established in the prosecution of tyrants would be lost. This should not happen. The Centre is committed to not letting this happen. It is also committed to preventing future atrocities by holding out the promise that they should be avoided as prosecution and punishment would certainly follow. The world deserves a future that is free of tyranny based on ethnic hatred.
The center calls upon the international community to explore forms of remedial justice for the Tamils living in the island of Sri Lanka in order to ensure that they can live with freedom and dignity let alone with their physical security.
( The writer is a professor)
Full text of the booklet is follows;
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