War-affected Tamils from the North and East of Sri Lanka have rejected the soft-pedalling draft resolution of the UN Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) on Sri Lanka with regard to Promoting Reconciliation, Accountability, and Human Rights in Sri Lanka.
The initial draft resolution by the core group on Sri Lanka comprising 6 nations has two paragraphs.
It;
1. Welcomes the report of Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights presented to the Council at its 57th session;
2. Decides to extend the mandate and all requested work of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Human Rights Council resolution 51/1 and requests the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to present an oral update at its 58th session, and a comprehensive report on progress on human rights, reconciliation, and accountability in Sri Lanka at its 60th session to be discussed in an interactive dialogue.
The final draft resolution is expected to be put to vote in this session.
Canada, the United Kingdom, the US, Malawi, Montenegro, and North Macedonia- the six nation core group that moved the resolution, were told, giving more time to the Sri Lankan government leading up to the 60th session would only add to the pain and sufferings of the victims who have been searching for their loved ones for more than 15 years now.
Participating in an interactive session with the members of the core group that drafted the resolution, Tamil representatives including present at the UNHRC said the draft does not reflect what the victims feel and their representatives say.
“It is not victim-centric” said Nisha Peiris, the UN representative of the Paris based Global Tamil movement.
“This resolution should also mention who the victims are, as the resolution on Myanmar. In the report, it’s mentioned Rohingya people are the victims in Rakhine state. Similar to Myanmar, as Tamil Victims, we request the core group countries to mention Tamils as victims of genocide in Sri Lanka and name a country-specific rapporteur for Sri Lanka”.
“Do not let us die without receiving justice” was the fervent appeal by the elderly Leeladevi Anandarajah, Secretary of the Association for the Relatives of the Enforced Disappearances (ARED) in the North and East of Sri Lanka.
Tamil representatives during their presentations and interaction with the core group members stressed; “without accountability, reconciliation would not be possible”.
In a unanimous voice all those individuals and Tamil groups present during the interaction called upon the core group to “redraft their resolution and include recommending the appointment of a special rapporteur for Sri Lanka”.
“The draft is not victim-centric and so doesn’t offer justice to the Tamils,” Lawyer Anushyan Arulsothy representative from the National Council of Canadian Tamils told the core group members.
While the draft resolution does not recommend international involvement and echoes the Sri Lankan government’s stand on an international mechanism, Leeladevi Anandadaraja said it should be imposed upon them.
“Even after 15 years, and with over 250 parents involved in the struggle having died, we have not been delivered justice. Sri Lanka government should be pressurized to accept an international mechanism”.
She told the members of the six nation core group how Ambassadors of Switzerland, Japan, and South Africa after their extensive visit to the Northern Province and interactions with the war-affected assured the ARED and the civil society they would support an international mechanism.
“A meeting took place in Mullivaikkal where the Ambassadors made speeches. They assured us they would not impose anything without our contribution or consent. Therefore, at this juncture, we urge everyone to reject any sort of internal mechanism. We ask you too, not to support such mechanisms”.
Selviya Selladurai representing Women Collective Association for Human Rights, a France-based organization, called upon the group of six nations to recommend targeted global sanctions on Sri Lankan officials, politicians who have been credibly accused of war crimes and crimes of genocide, as the Canadian and the US government has initiated.
“We invite the core group of countries to refer Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court”.
The Sri Lankan representative present during the deliberations reiterated their official stand again and rejected comprehensively any external interference in accountability and reconciliation mechanism, as informed by their Permanent Representative to the UN bodies in Geneva.
“Sri Lanka has the capacity and laws to take forward such mechanism internally”.
Expressing their deep disappointment at the draft resolution the Tamils have called upon the core group members to submit a report to the UN General Assembly on the situation of the Tamils in the North and East of Sri Lanka.
(ceylon news.lk)
