Sri Lanka’s Proposes Another Commission to Examine Past Abuses without Victim Consultation.

WASHINGTON , DC, UNITED STATES, February 21, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Tamil Diaspora organizations call for consultation with victims, an integrated transitional justice process and early implementation of trust-building efforts prior to the establishment of yet one more in a long line of ineffective commissions for the benefit of the international community.

In December 2023 Sri Lanka tabled legislation for a Commission on Truth, Unity and Reconciliation, which had been a talking point for almost a year and supposedly was developed based on South Africa’s Truth & Reconciliation Commission(1). Sri Lanka has a long history of setting up commissions, which are either ineffective or have their recommendations ignored or both(2). Sri Lanka also has a long history of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide which it would prefer not to have to address. Some of the most serious pressure for justice for international crimes originates outside the island, so the government attempts to show good faith efforts with an ever-growing thicket of powerless government or government-appointed bodies(3)

A TRC process was successful in South Africa because it was convened after the Botha regime acknowledged that the fundamental cause for the unrest was Apartheid and that racist system was abolished. In Sri Lanka, the Sinhala Buddhist establishment in the South has not taken any genuine steps to find a lasting political solution addressing the fundamental causes for the legitimate Tamil struggle for self-determination. Having been subject to mass atrocity crimes including genocide, the Tamil people expect an independent and international accountability process to hold to account all perpetrators of these crimes and to facilitate remedial justice including a constitutional framework that recognizes their inalienable rights. Only such an approach could allow the Tamil people to decide their political, cultural, social and economic destiny and live in security in their traditional homeland in the North-East of the island.

The international community should note the lack of any justice and accountability process associated with this new commission. The Government of Sri Lanka has repeatedly demonstrated that it does not have the political will to end impunity for past war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide(4). This new effort is no different. Without any real reckoning with the past, there can be little progress on either unity or reconciliation.

"If the Sri Lankan Government is serious about Truth, Unity and Reconciliation, it should consider first establishing an honest and credible partnership with victims and, second, demonstrating that it understands progress is only possible through a coordinated transitional justice process. Third, before yet another commission is established, there are a good number of confidence-building actions to halt the on-going structural genocide of the Tamils which should be taken to create the appropriate atmosphere for progress", , said Pushparany Williams, President of USTAG.

Organizations which endorse this PR:
1. Australian Tamil Congress; chairperson@australiantamilcongress.com
2. Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America (FeTNA); contact@fetna.org
3 Ilankai Tamil Sangam; president@sangam.org
4.United States Tamil Action Group (USTAG); info@theustag.org
5. World Thamil Organization; wtogroup@gmail.com


References:
1. ISTRM discussion held for establishing an independent Commission for Truth, Unity, and Reconciliation - DailyNews
2. Sri Lanka: Twenty years of make-believe. Sri Lanka’s Commissions of Inquiry - Amnesty International
3. Yasmin Sooka & Frances Harrison: TRC – a sophisticated get of jail free card? | Tamil Guardian
4. Ambika Satkunanathan: How to evade justice: Reconciliation without accountability | Daily FT
5. Truth and Reconciliation Commission - Sri Lanka’s Latest Gimmick: TGTE (einpresswire.com), CREATING TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION (TRC) COMMISSION IN SRI LANKA, A PLOY TO HOODWINK THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY – British Tamils Forum

Tamil Diaspora Organizations
United States Tamil Action Group (USTAG)
+1 2025953123
info@theustag.org

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