On the eve of Independence day celebrations

On the eve of the 74th anniversary of Sri Lanka’s Independence, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader R. Sampanthan has written to all 47-member states of the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) urging them to take tangible measures against Sri Lanka over its failure to fulfill commitments relating to Resolution 46/1.

The Trincomalee District MP alleged that the government hasn’t taken any steps to address the Tamil National Question as the only sure means to ensure non-recurrence of conflict. The following is the text of MP Sampantha’s letter addressed to Permanent Representatives of the member states made available to The Island by his Office:

“I write to you as the Leader of the largest Tamil Political Party (Tamil National Alliance) in the Sri Lankan Parliament in the lead up to the 49th secession of the United Nations Human Rights Council (U.N.H.R.C) when the situation in Sri Lanka is to be evaluated after the written update by the High Commissioner for Human Rights in keeping with the provisions of Resolution 46/1.

Within a week of the end of the armed ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka in May 2009, a joint communique was issued by the Government of Sri Lanka and the United Nations at the conclusion of the U.N Secretary General’s visit to Sri Lanka on 23rd of May 2009, which inter alia stated

“Sri Lanka reiterated its strongest commitment to the promotion and protection of Human Rights, in keeping with international Human Rights standards and Sri Lanka’s international obligations. The Secretary General underlined the importance of an accountability process for addressing violations of International Humanitarian and Human Rights law. The Government will take measures to address those grievances”.

Sri Lanka has not taken any meaningful steps to address the above commitments in the last twelve (12) years. During the intervening years the U.N.H.R.C has adopted seven (7) resolutions ending with U.N.H.R.C 46/1 in March 2021. Sri Lanka has meanwhile issued statements of various commitments which have largely not been implemented. In addition to not addressing the accountability issue the government of Sri Lanka continues a programme of oppression of the Sri Lankan Tamils including Militarisation, indefinite detention of political prisoners with several new arrests of also Civil Society and Media Personnel and family members and others memorializing their departed kith and kin, impeding displaced Tamil people from resettling on their lands through the actions of various Government Departments, the denial of traditional collective land rights and cattle grazing rights and intensifying surveillance of political and Civil society activists.

The most serious danger the Tamil people face is the issue of Land Grab that is going on in the pretext of archeological explorations, Wild Life protection and protecting of forest reserves., in addition to driving the Tamil people out of their traditional habitats

The government is engaged in a programme of redemarcation of divisional boundaries, and colonisation of historical Tamil speaking areas with new Sinhala settlers, so as to render any future settlement of the Tamil question nugatory. In this situation of uncertainty, Tamil people are leaving the country and seeking refuge abroad, in the interests of their own safety.

These actions of the Sri Lankan Government are intended to defeat the concept accepted both domestically and internationally that the Tamil people are a people within a united and undivided Sri Lanka inhabiting the Northern and Eastern provinces as their area of historical habitation, and thereby progressively transform the Northern and Eastern provinces into a majority Sinhala Areas.

As the U.N.H.C.R meets in February and March 2022 to evaluate the performance of the Sri Lankan government on its commitments relating to resolution No 46 / 1 we urge the member states to clearly articulate that Sri Lanka has failed in its obligations to investigate allegations of violations and not taken any steps to address the Tamil National Question as the only sure means to ensure non-recurrence.

The Tamil people request that you make your observations at the interactive sessions, and urge the Government of Sri Lanka to abide by its commitments, both in respect of accountability and settling the Tamil National Question justly and also adopt measures that will compel the Sri Lankan Government to move in the right direction in conformity with all its commitments, to ensure that we the Tamil people in Sri Lanka are able to continue to live in our Areas of Historical Habitation, the Northern and Eastern Provinces, within a United and Undivided Sri Lanka with Self- Respect, Dignity and Security.”