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The armed conflict between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan government ended in May 2009. As result of the civil war which raged for about 30 years, hundreds and thousands of Tamil were killed in the north and east of the island of Sri Lanka, thousands went missing, thousands of young women, both combatants and non-combatants were raped and exposed to various forms of sexual violence.

At the same time, thousands of children were displaced from their homes, schools and welfare centres as result of incessant bombing by the Sri Lanka armed forces, ostensibly to flush out the Tiger fighters.

Following the civil war and as result of the horrendous violations of Tamil human rights, there were loud urgings for an international inquiry into the gross human rights violations of Tamils by Sinhala leadership, army commanders and those responsible for causing irreparable hardship and misery to Tamil innocent civilians.

However, the urgings for an impartial and objective assessment of human rights violations of Tamil were resisted by United States, India, China and Russia, countries that supported the Sri Lankan government to crush the Tamil Tigers.

There were many resolutions that were passed in the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, but these resolutions did not meet the mark of impartiality and objectivity to order for a major investigation into the human rights violations in Sri Lanka.

Following the visit of some high-ranking UN officials including Navi Pillay, enough pressure was applied so that UN Human Rights Council could undertake an objective assessment as what exactly transpired in the closing stages of the war and the extent of human rights violations that Tamil had to undergo.

Thus, on Sept 16, 2015, the Office of the Human Rights Commissioner finally came up with a more than 260-page report that provided careful and in depth account of the nature and extent of human rights violations. In essence, the report represented a strong indictment of the Sri Lankan government’s involvement in the human rights crimes and the report suggested that a hybrid court system should be set up to investigate, charge and punish those war criminals.

The report felt that only with the strong presence of international judges, prosecutors and trained people the issues of reconciliation, justice and truth could be established.

While the report lay bare the truth about what happened in Sri Lanka and the manner in which the Tamil population was made to suffer and be humiliated, however, the responses of some of the super and regional powers were lukewarm. Even before the release of this damning report, the principal international players, India and US, never showed much interest in supporting a move to endorse an international investigation.

On the contrary they preferred a much more low-key domestic inquiry with the support of the Sri Lankan regime. Since India and US threw their support behind the present President, Maithripala Sirisena, who defeated the former president Mahinda Rajapakse in the elections, both the countries are of the opinion that Sirisena and his government should be given ample time to bring about reconciliation between the two principal communities, Sinhalese and Tamils, without the presence of an international investigative team.

Moreover, since Sirisena is quite pro-western and pro-India, there was a felt need among these two countries to preserve this regime and prevent domestic opposition from gathering strength if international investigation was opted for.

The above are the reasons why the US and its backers hurriedly came out with a draft resolution to be tabled on Oct 1, 2015, at the Human Rights Council, that actually seeks to nullify the strong demands of the report on the atrocities committed by the Sri Lankan government. This draft resolution reads more like a position paper of the Sri Lankan government that endorses a domestic investigation rather than an international one.

Draft US paper would nullify UN report

Many believe that the draft paper tabled by the US would render null and void the powerful recommendations of the UN report on the human rights crimes committed in Sri Lanka, especially in Tamil areas without impunity.

If the draft resolution gets the support of the majority of the members in the Human Rights Council, it would represent a foregone conclusion that human rights violations would go unpunished and that Tamils once again suffer the indifference of the international community. There will be no reconciliation, truth or justice for the vast majority of Tamils who suffered during and after the disastrous civil war.

The draft resolution by the US and perhaps supported by India would merely indicate that the international community, the superpowers and regional powers, are more interested in pursuing their geo-political interests rather paying serious attention to the gross and naked violations of human rights of Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Even if the US succeeds in getting through the draft resolution, it will merely postpone and aggravate the human rights situation. President Sirisena might be in power, but to date no positive change has come to Tamils in the north and east of the country.

Traditional land belonging to Tamils have been grabbed by the armed forces, names of streets and places in Tamil have been switched to Sinhala, Tamils suspected of supporting the defunct LTTE are languishing in high security prisons, rapes and sexual violence against women have not been addressed and many other crimes are daily committed against Tamils, all in the name of security.

The US-sponsored draft resolution to be tabled would represent a major setback to millions of Tamils who want justice, truth and dignity. Peace-loving members of the international community are shocked that the US hardly pays any attention to the terrible crimes committed against innocent and harmless people like the Tamils in Sri Lanka.

For those Tamil activists and others, the draft resolution would merely spur them on to continue their long struggle to bring to books those responsible for the terrible crimes committed against humanity.


P RAMASAMY is Deputy Chief Minister II of Penang and state assemblyperson for Perai.

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