Solidifying Legitimacy For An Independent Tamil Eelam
By Usha S Sri-Skanda Rajah –March 9, 2017
Usha S Sri-Skanda-Rajah
TGTE’s intervention, challenging Sri Lanka’s 6th Amendment at the UN Human Rights Committee would have the necessary effect, regardless of Sri Lanka’s response and the likelihood of it citing sovereignty issues – the usual lame excuse that it hides under. The observations and recommendations the UN body could make would have a formidable and favourable impact very definitely on correcting false perceptions; to quote TGTE’s Prime Minister, Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran, “we believe this campaign will contribute to solidify the legitimacy of Tamils’ campaign for an independent state. It will also mobilize and solidify the soft power of the Tamils.”
Mounting a Challenge to Sri Lanka’s 6th Amendment
The Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) will be mounting a challenge to Sri Lanka’s 6th Amendment to the constitution by filing a ‘communication’ with the UN Human Rights Committee. Sri Lanka’s 6th amendment, “criminalizes peaceful advocacy for an independent state.” The ‘communication’ has been signed by former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark, Justice K.P. Sivasubramaniam (Red.), former Judge of the High Court of Madras, India and Prime Minister of the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam, Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran. At this time the TGTE is making a “clarion call” to all lawyers across the globe to lend their support to this ‘communication’ it is filing.
The Historical Parallel
This remonstration by lawyers to the 6th Amendment, and their readiness to support and demonstrate their willingness to providing implicit legal representation to this initiative to challenge a repugnant law, by adding their name, has in fact a historical parallel. It is “reminiscent” Rudrakumaran told Taylor Dibbert for the Huffington Post, “of Sri Lanka’s 1976 Trial-at-Bar proceedings taken up against Tamil political leaders, at the time, for distributing to the public, copies of the Vaddukoddai Resolution.” The Vaddukoddai Resolution, a landmark declaration of enormous significance, affirmed by all the Tamil political parties, who came together in Pannakam, Vaddukkoddai, to make the clarion call for the restoration and reconstitution of an independent and sovereign state of Tamil Eelam. At the Trial-at-Bar, a “record” 70 odd lawyers, including the late SJV Chelvanayagam, then leader of the Federal Party, the late GG Ponnambalam, then leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress and the late Senator, M. Thiruchelvam, represented the Tamil leaders, charged with handing out seditious material.
6th Amendment a Violation of ICCPR Ratified By Sri Lanka integral to UN’s International Bill of Human Rights
The 6th Amendment to Sri Lanka’s constitution is a grave violation of freedom of thought and conscience and freedom of speech provided in Article 18 and 19 and of the right of self-determination, enshrined in article 1 of the 1966 UN treaty referred to as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by Sri Lanka in June 1980.
Furthermore the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its 2 Optional Protocols together form an integral part of the International Bill of Human Rights, the other components being the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, all formulated in pursuance of United Nations General Assembly resolutions.
Prof Boyle Calls on His Colleagues to Support this “Breakthrough Initiative”
Prof Boyle, renowned international lawyer, “encouraging” his colleagues to come on board said he was signing “this breakthrough initiative” among other, because, the right to self determination for Eelam Tamils was at stake here: “The right to self-determination for the Eelam Tamils is at stake here and that is certainly why I am going to sign and why I would encourage all my legal colleagues to sign. This is an extremely important initiative, a breakthrough initiative, and I think everyone has to be behind it,” Boyle said. Article 1 of ICCPR per se guarantees that, “all peoples have the right of self-determination,” and that, “by virtue of that right, they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.
Rudrakumaran Confident Tamils Would Opt for Independent State If 6th Amendment is Repealed
