Justice Delayed is Justice Denied, Action Speaks Louder Than Words
TO THE ATTENTION OF: UNITED NATIONS, UNHRC, SECURITY COUNCIL AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
It is a high time and urgent need for the United Nations, UNHRC, ICC and the International Community to find remedial justice to the oppressed Tamils in Sri Lanka. The following facts prove beyond doubt that there was an institutionalized and systematic genocide of Tamils from independence in 1948.
[1] Pogroms against the Tamils: 1956, 1958, 1971, 1977, 1981, 1983 and the genocidal war from 2006-2009 . to chase out the Tamils from their traditional and historical homeland.
[2] Militarization of the Tamil Nation : The vast presence of the military in the North and East of Sri Lanka. The vast presence of the military in the North and East of Sri Lanka shows that the Government’s claim that the numbers have reduced is untrue.
[3] Tamils Historical Homeland: Since the Colebrook Commission in 1833 and later since independence in 1948, it is crystal clear that the Tamil Nation possessed a clearly defined contiguous territory comprising the Northern and Eastern provinces of the island, had its own Kingdom and was sovereign. History proves that the Jaffna Kingdom existed for 403 years with Nallur as its capital from 1215 AD to 1619 AD. The Portuguese landed in Ceylon [Sri Lanka in 1505 and took 115 years to conquer the Jaffna Kingdom.
Sir Hugh Cleghorn, British Colonial Secretary’s words on June 1799: “Two different nations, from very ancient period, have divided between them the possession of the island; the Sinhalese inhabiting the interior in its southern and western parts from the river Wallowa to Chilaw, and the Tamils posses the Northern and Eastern districts. These two nations differ entirely in their religion, language and manners.’’
[4] Presence of heavy Military: Contrary to the promises made in Geneva in the name of peace and reconciliation the Sri Lankan Government would dismantle High Security Zones, close army cantonments and return lands seized from the people, the Northern and Eastern Provinces, the traditional and historical homelands of the Tamils continue to be occupied zones even twelve years after the end of the brutal war.
[5] International Protection Mechanism: To stop the continuing structural genocide the UN, UNHRC and the International community should consider a International Protection Mechanism to stop the structural genocide, to halt the willful destrucion of the historical habitats of the Tamil people, colonisaton of Sinhalese from the South into Tamils historical homelands in the North to change the demography. The destruction of Tamil national identity, Tamil language, Tamil culture and violations of Tamil people’s human rights enshrined in the UN Charter and the Declaration of Human Rights and other UN Treaties and Conventions: The draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act [PTA] is used to abduct, torture, kill, brutalize the Tamil people on a massive scale.
Tamil people can never live with equality, dignity, and respect in an ethnocratic state. Tamils have already lost their land and identity to a large extent in the last 74 years since independence. If the Tamils continue to live in the ethnocratic Sri Lankan state, Tamils will completely lose their existence and identity for some time to come. Therefore, the international community must take appropriate actions without delay to hold a referendum in the North and East to find a solution. That is what the Tamil people want.
Kumarathasan Rasingam, Secretary, Tamil Canadian Elders for Human Rights Org
