Sri Lanka’s occupation of the Tamil homeland has led to the continuation of human rights violations against Tamil civilians. Sri Lankan armed forces’ intimidation and surveillance of Tamil journalists and activists are rampant. Cemeteries of Tamil war heroes have been destroyed and commemoration events are impeded. The Sri Lankan government simultaneously builds Buddhist stupas in the Tamil homeland as part of its cultural genocide of the Tamil nation. Furthermore, the Sri Lankan military and navy obstruct income-producing industries such as agriculture and fisheries, further eroding the economy of the Tamil community.
In 2013, the verdict from the second People’s Tribunal on Sri Lanka held in Germany acknowledged the military assault by Sri Lanka against the Eelam Tamils was genocidal in nature. It further added that the characterization of the LTTE as a terrorist group including by the EU and countries such as the USA and UK contributed towards accelerating the genocidal process.
In February 2015, the Northern Provincial Council in Sri Lanka passed a resolution that demanded a UN inquiry to investigate the genocide of the Tamil people by successive Sri Lankan governments.
In May 2018, the Second International Conference on Tamil Nationhood and Genocide in Sri Lanka held in Canada passed a resolution calling for an independent international investigation into the charge of genocide.
While the international community sits idly by allowing Sri Lankan state perpetrators accused of mass atrocity crimes to evade justice, the Tamil mothers of the disappeared continue to protest demanding to know the whereabouts of their children who were forcibly disappeared after being taken into Sri Lankan state custody. This protest has now reached over 2000 days and over 120 protestors have since died never to know the fate of their disappeared children.
We call on the international community to take active steps to bring perpetrators of mass atrocity crimes to be brought to justice. We call for more jurisdictions to recognize the Tamil Genocide and the Tamil nation’s right to self-determination.
Federation of Global Tamil Organizations, https://fgto.org | (647) 875 7354 | info@fgto.org
Present member organizations: Tamil American United PAC (TAUPAC), Global Tamil Movement (GTM), Ottawa Tamil Association (OTA), Quebec Tamil Development Association (QTDA), World Tamil Organization (WTO), Tamil Genocide Memorial (TGM), ABC Tamil Oli, Florida Tamil Association (FTA)
PressRelease Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day - May 18###