Denmark calls for independent international investigation on Sri Lanka
[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 May 2013, 15:31 GMT]
In an official Parliamentary release on Friday, four major Danish political parties, including two parties of the ruling coalition, called “for the establishment of an independent international investigation into violations of international humanitarian law and human rights committed during the end of the civil war in Sri Lanka.” Welcoming the move as a positive step, the alternative political activists in the country of Eezham Tamils said that the call for international investigation would have been more meaningful had it come at the time of the US-tabled Geneva resolution undermining it. The Danish statement is a follow-up of the conference “A forgotten conflict: Conference on Human Rights in Sri Lanka” held in the Denmark parliament on April 17 which saw the participation of Danish politicians from both the ruling left parties and the opposition party, academics, Eezham Tamil politicians from the island and the diaspora, Sinhala journalists, and other civil society activists.
Further pledging that Denmark would work with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to continue to monitor the HR situation in Sri Lanka, they also resolved that Denmark would work to ensure that the Tamils who entered the custody of the Sri Lankan military in 2009 will be either released or produced in the Courts.
The statement was endorsed by the Social Democrats, the Social Liberal Party, the Red-Green Alliance and the Liberal Alliance.
Commenting further on the Danish move, Tamil political activists in the island said that any call which is not attending to the current plight, based on the recognition of the nation and territoriality of Eezham Tamils, will only pave way to another series of calls for post-mortem in future.
What is more urgent to Eezham Tamils today than belated investigations is arresting the on-going genocide –annihilation of the identity of the entire nation of Eezham Tamils, which is worse than the genocide in the war,
they further said.
David Cameron’s Decision On CHOGM Sets The Wrong Precedence – British Tamils Forum
May 8, 2013 |
The Prime Minister (PM) David Cameron’s decision to attend the summit despite the continuing call by the Canadian Prime Minister Steven Harper’s Government as well as Human Rights Organisations and the Tamils around the world to boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lank sets the wrong precedence. A spokesperson for the Queen, who is the head of the Commonwealth, has confirmed that it would be the first time since 1973 the head of the Commonwealth would not be present at an important summit for the group.
David Cameron and Rajapaksa
Sri Lanka has failed on the fundamental values of the Commonwealth, such as Democracy, Human rights, Tolerance, Respect and understanding, Separation of powers, Rule of law, Freedom of expression and Good governance.
The PM’s decision has angered the British Tamils and the rational to his decision is baseless. Sri Lanka has failed to implement any of the positive recommendations of its own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), which a United Nations (UN) resolution (19.L.2) adopted in the Human Rights Council (HRC) in March 2012 called for. Furthermore Sri Lanka has categorically rejected the HRC resolution (22/L.1) which was adopted in March 20013.
In November 2012, the Foreign Affairs Committee in its report urged the PM to announce his unwillingness to attend the CHOGM in Sri Lanka. His actions will also put Her Majesty the Queen in a difficult position in sending a representation on her behalf when Human Rights Organisations are calling for a Boycott or a venue change.
The PM to announce his intention to attend six months in advance is ill-timed and will be seen as a clear message to encourage the other heads of States to attend the summit since there are many supports for the boycott call. When Britain should be taking the leadership in promoting Human Rights and uphold the Commonwealth values, the PM has opted to ignore the appalling Human Rights record of Sri Lanka.
Allowing Sri Lanka to host CHOGM 2013 will automatically give Sri Lanka the chair-in-office for the next two years and allowing an alleged war criminal to chair the 53 Nations of Commonwealth Heads of Governments.
Britain is making a historic mistake in its own responsibility towards its commitment to the Human Rights and the Commonwealth values and the Commonwealth is becoming increasingly irrelevant.
We sincerely hope that the PM rethinks his decision and put Human Rights in front of any business deals that will come out of the Commonwealth Business Forum (CBF) which will take place in conjunction with the CHOGM 2013.
The British Tamils Forum (BTF) is calling for expulsion of Sri Lanka from the Commonwealth and change the venue for CHOGM 2013. We believe that the PM should take the leadership and shift CHOGM 2013 to the UK and making it convenient for the Queen to attend.
By British Tamils Forum
