Tamil Students Reject UN Human Rights Council Sri Lanka Resolution-Says It Open Doors for Atrocity Crimes Against Tamils

"Instead of Holding Perpetrators to Account, this Resolution White Washes Their Atrocity Crimes and Bail Them Out"

JAFFNA UNIVERSITY, SRI LANKA, October 4, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Student Union of the Jaffna University announced that it is rejecting UN Human Rights Council Resolution on Sri Lanka, saying this Resolution will open doors for atrocity crimes against Tamils by Sri Lankan soldiers stationed in very large numbers in the Tamil areas

We hoped that this Resolution will at last bring justice, but our hopes were dashed by this unjust Resolution. This Resolution does not exhibit any knowledge or understanding of the atrocity crimes committed against Tamil people including the suffering and trauma Tamils faced.

This Resolution has failed to address atrocities Tamils encountered for several decades by successive Sri Lankan Governments. Instead of holding perpetrators to account, the Resolution whitewashed their atrocity crimes and bailed them out.

By not holding security forces to account, this Resolution is also showing green light to security forces stationed in Tamil areas to commit atrocities against Tamils without hesitation, knowing well that they will not be held accountable for any future atrocities they will commit. We like to point out that the soldiers who killed thousands of Tamils and raped hundreds of Tamil women are the same soldiers still stationed in Tamil areas among Tamils including among their victims.

This Resolution completely ignored the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights call to Refer Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court (ICC). This call was endorsed by all previous UN High Commissioners for Human Rights, nine former UN Special Rapporteurs all of whom have visited Sri Lanka and wrote reports and all the members of the UN Panel of Experts on Sri Lanka.

The call to Refer Sri Lanka to ICC was also endorsed by all segments of the Tamil community, including us, victim groups, Political parties, Members of Parliament, and Civil Society, saying this is the only way to get justice for mass atrocities committed against the Tamil people by the Sri Lankan Security forces and political leaders. But this Resolution completely ignored all our calls.

According to the UN's Internal Review Report on Sri Lanka, around 70 thousand Tamils were killed or unaccounted for during the final six months of the war. International Truth and Justice Project in February 2017 handed over details to UN of Sri Lankan Military run "Rape Camps", where Tamil women are being held as “sex slaves”. Furthermore, Thousands of Tamils had disappeared, including babies and children.

Despite appeals by senior UN officials as well as various segments of the Tamil community who paid the heavy price, the Resolution that was tabled ignores not only the call to Refer Sri Lanka to ICC, but also chose to ignore the pain, suffering and trauma of the victims and the Tamil community. We completely reject this unjust Resolution, said Jaffna University student Union.

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