GLOBAL PEACE SUPPORT GROUP - UK was one of the participating organisations in the People’s tribunal that was held on the 14/15 and 16th of January in Dublin. The Tribunal was held in the Arts building at Trinity College.
GPSG - UK was represented by two of its senior directors who actively participated throughout the hearings and submitted their papers to the panel members for their consideration.
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Submission of our paper: GPSG-UK
On behalf of the Global Peace support Group UK; we wish to submit this paper to the Permanent People’s Tribunal in Dublin January 2010, we believe the human loss and sufferings’ by the Tamil people deserve an unequivocal attention of the International community through this Tribunal. We are glad that (1). Your investigations are seeking to establish the allegations that the Government of Srilanka and its armed forces have committed War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity during its final stages of the war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
(2). To examine the local and international factors that led to the collapse of the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement.
We wish to express this view on behalf of hundreds of thousands of Tamil people, who have and are still suffering the appalling oppression and human right abuses inflicted by Srilankan government. This situation could have been averted if only the International community had acted in time; when the Tamil Diaspora had raised their Cry in mid 2006. This cry was intensified in January 2009 till May 09 while the brutal war was raging without any consideration for the civilian’s lives. We assume our cry was muffled because the Government of Srilanka [GoSL] had staged this ‘war without witnesses’ and has stressed to the rest of the world that this was an internal problem. Secondly, it has also stressed that it is a terrorist problem that is being fought. Government of Srilanka, at every stage of the war had wilfully denied the human catastrophe and hid the truth.
Since independence in 1948, the successive Srilankan Governments has to accept their wrong doings. The cumulative effect of all the wrong doings had created this terrorist phenomenon. Marginalising and discriminating the Tamils in politics, education, employment and the wanton destruction of Tamil people’s businesses and livelihood, disruptions of their cultural and social fabric. The ethnic Tamils have been denied their fundamental human rights since independence. They were repeatedly subjected to communal riots or better known as pogroms. Could one considered or categorised this conflict to be an internal problem? These pogroms should have come to the attention of the UN much earlier.
The Srilankan governments have ignored fully every word that defines the UN charter to safeguard the human rights. More so, one could visualise this in the 1972 new republican constitution. This new constitution had deliberately wiped out the clause 29, which was to safeguard the minority rights. This clause was enshrined in the Ceylon constitution when enacted by British, realising that the country was made up of multi-ethnic groups. Many thousands of Tamil People’s lives could have been saved if only the UN or the International community took steps after the first pogrom in1958. Or even after the holocaust in 1983.
We also feel this war was staged managed with many international collaborators. If we just remind ourselves, the US/ EU meeting in Austria in March 2003 was held to seek necessary steps to curtail or eradicate the menace of terrorism. Unfortunately the liberation Tigers by now was severely demonised and discredited and labelled as a terror group by Srilankan Government. India had banned this organisation following Mr. Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination in May 1991. Srilankan Government went on to site this ban by India and having exploited its propaganda machineries in the West; was able to get LTTE banned as a foreign terror group in USA and UK.
GoSL through its misinformation’s and false propaganda was successful in getting the ban imposed on LTTE. The USA banned LTTE in1997 and UK banned it after the9/11 by end of 2001. The LTTE’s past discredited activities such as, the use of child soldiers, suicide bombers and the assassination of the high profile men Indian Prime Minster and the Srilankan President in 1991 & 1993 were recycled as the main theme by GoSL to highlight them and to spin out more derogatory lies to get further countries to ban the LTTE. In 2006 Canada and EU banned LTTE, even while the cease fire agreement and peace talks were in progress. EU’s ban was also based on the assassination of the Foreign Minister Laximan Kadirgarmer wrongfully was blamed on LTTE. The Presidential Commission of Inquiry with the eleven International Eminent Person’s Group could not find any evidences to indict LTTE. GoSL having colluded with India and the International Community to carry out its hidden agenda soon helped to stall the peace talks in September 2003. This has now come out as very clear evidence that this joint mission was to carry out an all out war on eradicating terrorism in Srilanka. [Wiping out the tigers]
The provocative strikes initiated by GoSL from April 2006 became an all out war in the east and continued till end of 2007. The abrogating the cease fire agreement in January 2008 against the will of Intentional community was made with the intention of concluding the brutal war to a finish in the northern strong hold of LTTE. The horrific experiences narrated by those affected by this war highlight the callous disregard shown by Srilankan armed forces [SLAF] in respect to lives of civilians, because they were Tamils.[ Eye witness who returned to Australia and to England in September 09]. SLA used the strategy of ‘To kill tigers, kill all the Tamils’ including women, children and the elderly. Unarmed civilians were deliberately targeted by aerial bombing and shelling using multi-barrel rocket launchers as revenge. Safety and dignity of Tamil person in his own home or in the hospital was denied. Tamil Civilians voiced their plight to Foreign Missions and Diplomats in Colombo and overseas on every occasion when armed offensive was taken by GoSL. Not a single country came forward to openly raise concerns on the plights of Tamil civilians. International Communities’ silence was a clear signal to GoSL to continue with its ethnic genocide.
The armed conflict is characterised by serious violations of international humanitarian laws. The use of banned weapons- white phosphorous cluster bombs, chemical bombs and heavy weapons in densely populated areas, so called safe zones or no fire zones, hospitals and make shift hospitals. [Satellite pictures of UN, published in London Times, French le Mont news media]. GoSL has made no attempt to investigate, but has dismissed the need for such investigation as contradictory to the promises it made in the joint statement with UN Secretary General.
Even when the war was declared as over the killings of Tamil civilians continues, disappearances, rape extrajudicial killings, torture, starvation is rampant within the so called ‘welfare camps’. Reports cannot be corroborated because the camps are closed to human right organisations, journalists and other independent observers. Few doctors who visited the camps don’t wish to speak out as their chances to return to help those in the camp would be curtailed or barred or even frighten that their relatives would be harmed. President of Srilanka and his government think there was no violation of human rights and there are no civilian casualties. They are not keen on truth and reconciliation commission. However, GoSL has a poor record of investigating serious human rights abuses and impunity has been a persistent problem. Despite a backlog of cases of enforced disappearance and unlawful killings going back two to three decades that runs to the tens of thousands, there have been only a small numbers of prosecutions such as : [ Krishanthi case] and Bindenuwa massacre convicted soldiers have now been pardoned. Past efforts to address violations through the establishment of ad hoc mechanisms in Srilanka, such as presidential commissions of inquiry have produced few results, either in providing information or leading to prosecutions. The most recent commission August 2006 to investigate 16 major human right cases , including five Tamil A/L students in Trincomalee, and 17 aid workers with the Paris –based humanitarian agency ‘ Action Contre La Faim’[ACF] highlights this failure. The International Eminent Persons group after 18 months withdrew from its role because “The government had no will on its part to investigate and punish the perpetrators”.
If we are to move ahead as a nation and not repeat this history, there has to be transparency and accounting. Such accounting requires an international inquiry, not by Srilankan government or any other governments, but by persons whose commitment to humanity is beyond question. Experience shows that a local effort is grossly inadequate is shameless in its obstruction of justice and complicity in crime. The attitude of the Srilankan government towards accountability is evident in its official reaction to a recently broadcast video which shows what appear to be Srilankan army soldiers summarily executing prisoners. Prof Philip Alston, the UN Special Repporteur on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions, has called for an investigation of this video. The Srilankan government, however, dismissed the video out of hand, labelling it a fabrication and a “concocted story”. Similarly on the question of execution of LTTE political leaders and their families who came to surrender as instructed with white flag. Srilanka’s past record, recent statements, and the government’s lack of action in the last seven months makes it clear that this government has no intention of impartially investigating violations committed during the war. Srilanka’s blatant reneging on its commitments and its refusal to recognise its international legal obligations is evident that it has committed human right abuses and crime against humanity without doubt.
We in the Tamil diaspora have been campaigning for Peace & Justice for our people in Srilanka. Our campaign would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who is willing to bring Peace, Justice and Dignity to our Tamil people. In this respect the Global Peace Support Group UK wish to thank The Irish Forum for Peace in Srilanka for initiating this Tribunal hearing.
Thank you.
GLOBAL PEACE SUPPORT GROUP – UK
www.globalpeacesupport.com
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