A cross-section of Tamil political leaders and civil society representatives handed a letter to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk during his visit to the island, urging the United Nations to maintain a firm stance on accountability for mass atrocities committed in Sri Lanka and not allow the Sri Lankan government to exploit his visit to undermine international pressure.
The letter, titled “Need for a sincere and genuine approach to ensure accountability in Sri Lanka,” was delivered to Türk and expressed concern that his presence on the island was being used by the Sri Lankan state “as an exercise in boosting their legitimacy and to weaken the resolve of your office and that of the UN Human Rights Council to take concrete steps towards ensuring accountability in Sri Lanka.”
“Your Excellency’s visit to the island comes in the backdrop of 16 years of no significant progress on the question of accountability for crimes committed during the four-decade long war,” the signatories stated.
They criticised the current Sri Lankan administration for continuing the same oppressive policies as its predecessors, highlighting recent actions such as the gazetting of over 6,000 acres of land in the Northern Province as state land, the refusal to release private land in Thayiddy where a Buddhist temple has been constructed with military backing, and the state’s backtracking on repealing the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act.
“These are just a few examples of why there has been no real change in Governmental policies towards Tamils and other numerically smaller communities,” the letter read.
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