LKA – British Tamils Forum

Outcome of the ‘Trinco 5’ case is emblematic of Sri Lanka not delivering justice for serious crimes committed against Tamil civilians

admin — Sun, 14 Jul 2019 00:13:56 +0000

GENEVA, July12,2019: The Australian Tamil Congress (ATC), the British Tamils Forum (BTF), the Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC) and the US Tamil Action Group (USTAG) are dismayed at the reports that the thirteen Sri Lankan Special Task Force and Police personnel charged with the killing of five Tamil youths in Trincomalee on January 2, 2006 were acquitted of all charges and released on July 3, 2019, purportedly due to lack of evidence to continue the case in a satisfactory manner.

The five innocent youths killed were 20-year-old Tamil students with no political affiliations. Though diversionary attempts were initially made by the authorities to link the killings to Tamil militancy, it soon became apparent that these were cold-blooded executions carried out by security forces personnel, thought to be as a warning sign for the Tamil youth from the area.

Early investigations of the incident came to nothing due to a systematic intimidation and fear campaign carried out by security forces, including the killing of two potentially important witnesses and a terror campaign unleashed on the families and other key witnesses to force them to leave the area and the country. And indeed, most of the family members of the victims fled overseas fearing for their lives.

The case – known as ‘Trinco 5’ – remains one of the highest profile killings in Sri Lanka to have received domestic and international attention. Sri Lanka’s own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) observed in 2011 that there were strong grounds to surmise the involvement of uniformed personnel in the commission of the crime. ‘Trinco 5’ was listed in 2014 by the then UN High Commissioner for Human Rights as one of four ‘emblematic cases’ of the government’s failure to ensure accountability.

In February 2018, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein told the UN Human Rights Council that the killings were among several on the island that demonstrate ongoing impunity. His report said, “The failure to show major progress in these emblematic cases strengthens the argument for the establishment of a specialized court to deal with the most serious crimes committed by State actors…. staffed by specialized personnel and supported by international practitioners.”

When the case was finally taken to court recently, eight key witnesses failed to appear, among them two who had migrated overseas. Though some allowance was made in recent years to enable testifying from overseas, the changes enacted were grossly inadequate to earn the confidence and trust of the witnesses. However, the case continued to remain under international spotlight – such as a tweet from the former US Ambassador Atul Keshap on the 12th anniversary of the crime noting, “justice delayed is justice denied” – which compelled the government to act even in a limited manner.

The ruling last week, however, has dashed all hope and raised fears that the case will die a natural death and justice will not be served.

Human rights groups have reacted strongly to the judgement. “This was a test case for the Sri Lankan Government to show its commitment and capacity to ensure justice and accountability for conflict-related crimes, and the fact is the authorities have failed. Political leaders that insist there is no need to comply with Sri Lanka’s pledges to include international involvement in transitional justice have just been proved wrong,” stated Human Rights Watch South Asia Director Meenakshi Ganguly. Amnesty International South Asia Director Biraj Patnaik noted that justice had been denied yet again to the families of the ‘Trinco 5’ murder, with a tweet “When will this travesty of justice end?”

It is well known that a few immediate family members of the victims have been valiantly fighting for justice over several years now. We understand and identify with the frustration and shock they must be feeling on this miscarriage of justice and profess our support for their continuing efforts.

The absolute failure of the Sri Lankan justice system was also revealed in another well-known case when six former Sri Lankan army corporals accused of murder and rape in the massacre of 24 Tamils including 13 children in 1996 in the town of Kumarapuram near Trincomalee were all acquitted in 2016, though the involvement of the military in the murder and mayhem was a publicly acknowledged fact.

The outcomes of these cases, under the present Sirisena-Wickremasinghe coalition government, clearly illustrate the collective failure of the Sri Lankan judicial system – Police, Attorney General and Judiciary – which are lacking in will, capacity and direction from the leadership of the country. In fact, Sri Lanka has perfected the art of protecting its security forces and the political leadership by creating a complex maze of lies, deceit, distortions, fear and intimidation. In such an environment, Tamil victims receiving justice in an exclusively Sri Lankan judicial system is next to impossible.

It is the responsibility of all right-thinking people and the international community to ensure impunity is ended in Sri Lanka and justice is served, not only on the emblematic cases, but for all serious cases of atrocity crimes committed in the country.

That is the best insurance to prevent Sri Lanka from returning to its despicable past.

Please click the link here for a pdf of copy of the press release.

Tamil Diaspora Organizations call for action on the eve of Sri Lanka’s 70th Independence Day

admin — Sun, 04 Feb 2018 10:38:21 +0000

An open letter to the Hon Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, High Commissioner for Human Rights on the 3rd of February 2018, the British Tamils Forum and the diaspora organisations jointly called on UNHRC to action against Sri Lanka in March 2018 session for not delivery its commitment to the UNHRC resolution 30/1 and the reaffirmation of commitments made therein through HR/34/1 in March 2017.

We also said, “In 2018, we resolve to use all available diaspora resources to support action against accused war criminals in Sri Lanka through universal jurisdiction”.

For further read, please see the attached.

Honorable Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein

High Commissioner for Human Rights

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

Palais des Nations

CH-1211 Geneva 10

Switzerland

Dear High Commissioner,

Tamil Diaspora Organizations call for action on the eve of Sri Lanka’s 70th Independence Day

On February 4 Sri Lanka marks its 70th year of independence from Britain. Historically, this day has been a painful one for the Tamils both who live in Sri Lanka and those who have been forced into exile by discrimination and anti-Tamil violence. Tamil dignitaries and politicians did not attend the ceremonies celebrating the event from 1972 to 2014 in protest for the exclusion of the Tamil population from the political, economic, and cultural life of the country and the elimination of protections for non-Sinhalese Buddhist communities left embedded in the constitution at independence.

Tamil politicians only attended the ceremonies for the past 3 years in recognition of the promises that the current government made about reconciliation, equal rights and a new federal constitution. Progress on these promises has been virtually non-existent and we call on Tamil dignitaries to express their displeasure at such stalling through re-considering their terms of engagement in appropriate ways.

Not only has there been little progress on reconciliation, transitional justice and political reform, but serious human rights abuses continue against the Tamil and Muslim communities, as well asjournalists, human rights defenders and political dissidents. The brutal security apparatus remains in place, undiminished and unreformed, if not as visible under the current government, but ready to be deployed as those in power wish. Extrajudicial executions, abductions, torture, sexual violence, illegal land appropriation, state-sponsored population movements that change the demography of Tamil areas, religious and cultural intolerance, language and economic discrimination, political exclusion and gerrymandering, appropriation of timber, agricultural land, minerals and resources of the sea under the protection of the state, fresh occupation of Tamil lands in the guise of expansion of tourism, protection of archeological sites and military needs are all continuing under the current government.

These abuses are exacerbated by the presence of one of the highest concentrations of military forces in the world by one of the largest militaries by population in Asia, most of which remain deployed in the Tamil and Muslim areas. Such a large military is a drain on all citizens in times of peace, but especially on the Tamil population as the nearly 100% Sinhalese security forces have perfected monetary extortion through torture, sexual violence, human smuggling & trafficking, economic strangulation and monitoring of all civilian activity. These abuses against the Tamil population, taking place in the aftermath of the mass atrocities during and after the war that ended in 2009, and continuing under the present unity government elected on a mandate for reform are understood to be aimed at the ultimate destruction of the Tamil community as a viable entity within their own ‘area of historical habitation’ on the island.

This Independence Day 2018, the undersigned Tamil diaspora organizations appeal to the International Community, particularly the Western and regional powers with influence and involvement in Sri Lanka, to ensure justice and lasting peace in Sri Lanka following up on consensus UN Human Rights Council Resolution 30/1 and the reaffirmation of commitments made therein through HR/34/1 in March 2017.

The resolutions called for the establishment of a credible accountability mechanism with strong international participation to investigate the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during and after the war that ended in 2009. The resolutions also called for de-militarization of the North and East, a truth commission, action on tracing missing persons, reparations to victims and a political solution to the ethnic conflict that guarantees non-recurrence.

We bring to the attention of the international community that 3 years after Resolution 30/1, the Sri Lankan government has failed to implement even a single key mechanism for Transitional Justice. The Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) is still not repealed, the Office of Missing Persons still not operationalized, and the Special Court, truth commission and reparation mechanisms still not initiated. Your strong call in March 2017, which was echoed by several countries, for Sri Lanka to announce a time-bound action plan for implementation of its commitments remains unfulfilled. Mothers of the disappeared have been protesting on the roadside for over a year on the lack of action, while Tamil politicians and civil society note the failure to repeal and the continued use of the PTA at every opportunity.

In 2018, we resolve to use all available diaspora resources to support action against accused war criminals in Sri Lanka through universal jurisdiction.

To this end, we call upon the international community to strongly act, including executing travel bans on the accused, implementing asset freezes on war criminals and human rights abusers, and seeking detentions and prosecutions when identified war criminals travel to or through their countries. As the long promised constitutional reform in Sri Lanka drags on, we ask concerned governments and human rights bodies to push for the incorporation of transitional justice provisions in the new constitution.

As Sri Lanka gears up for the 70^th anniversary of its independence, democratic governments around the world and the United Nations officials taking part in the festivities must call for Sri Lanka to commit to a time-bound plan to implement the totality of the transitional justice provisions. We urge you in your influential position to issue specific alternative measures to address Sri Lanka’s non-compliance with the Human Rights Council resolutions, including possible referral to the UN Security Council.

With the utmost respect,

1. Australian Tamil Congress (ATC)

2. British Tamil Conservatives (BTC)

3. British Tamils Forum (BTF)

4. Ilankai Tamil Sangam (ITS-USA)

5. People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL-USA)

6. Solidarity Group for Peace and Justice in Sri Lanka (SGPJ- South Africa)

7. Tamils for Labour (TfL-UK)

8. Tamil Friends for Liberal Democrats (TFLD-UK)

9. Together Against Genocide (TAG-UK)

10. United States Tamil Political Action Council (USTPAC)

11. World Thamil Organization (WTO-USA)