Australian Tamil Congress

Joint New Year's Message from Tamil Organisations

Click Here to read the joint new years message from:

Human Rights Organisations and Rights Groups Slams Sri Lanka's own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) report

Statements and Responses on LLRC Reports:

Statement from Australian Tamil Congresson LLRC Report

Statement from Global Tamil Forrum

Human Rights Watch - Sri Lanka: Report Fails to Advance Accountability

Journal of Foreign Relations - Sri Lanka’s “Truth” Commission: A Brief Assessment of the LLRC Report

International Crisis Group - Sri Lanka: Women’s Insecurity in the North and East

Channel 4 News - Sri Lankan civilians 'not targeted', says report

The Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice - Whitewash

ColomboPage - Tamil party of Sri Lanka criticizes Reconciliation Commission report

The Washington Post - Sri Lankan Tamil leaders reject commission report, call for international war crimes probe

Tamil Canadian / US State Department - US State Department Press Brief on Sri Lanka (December 19, 2011)

The Hindu - U.S. urges Sri Lanka to address Human Rights issues

Amnesty USA - Sri Lankan Report Doesn’t Fully Address War Crimes

Asian Human Rights Commission - SRI LANKA: The report of the Commission of Inquiry on Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation

-- the issuing of the report is a non-event

South Asia Analysis Group - Sri Lanka: Lessons unlearnt and reconciliation deconstructed

Sri Lankan Human Rights issues continue to be discussed post CHOGM

The Australian Opinion Editorial – Commonwealth should unite on human rights
SMH Opinion Editorial – Politics has no place when it comes to crimes against humanity Read more...

Sri Lanka's Attempts to Discredit Outspoken Critics Illustrates Regime's Desperation

The Government of Sri Lanka's (GoSL) attempts at discrediting those who have come forward and spoken out illustrate the desperation of a regime that has no other means of rebuttal.

The GoSL has also attacked non-Tamils in the wider community, including politicians, eminent persons and human rights activists, who have spoken in support of a genuine accountability process in Sri Lanka.

This is a regime that has categorically denied bombing hospitals, shelling safe-zones and the death and disappearnces of thousands of Tamils before, during and since the war despite overwhelming evidence. If the regime is capable of such lies, why are they not capable of fabricating other stories to discredit people strong enough to stand up against them?

From England to Australia, the GoSL's tactic to discredit Tamil eye witnesses is a racial argument which essentially asserts that those who speak up for war crimes accountability are liars and terrorists or terrorist sympathisers.

Even if one is sympathetic to the idea of a Tamil homeland, such sympathy does not mean that these individuals lack credibility as witnesses.

Furthermore, the evidence given by these eye-witnesses are not new allegations but rather claims backed by numerous reputable independent organisations including the United Nations Expert Panel, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, International Crisis Group and International Commission of Jurists.

Those who speak now are the few that survived the blood bath. Since the GoSL cannot murder or incarcerate these individuals as it would on the island, Sri Lanka chooses to attack their character since it knows it cannot refute their allegations of war crimes with exculpatory facts.

Dr. Sam Pari
National Spokesperson and Executive Officer - Public Relations
Australian Tamil Congress.

Over 130 media reports in a fortnight on Sri Lankan war crimes and CHOGM

The below list of media coverage is only a fraction of what we have managed to collate over the past fortnight. There have been reports, especially radio and television, which are not available readily online and hence are not included but will be archived on our website in the near future.

The media craze that exploded in Australia in the lead up to the CHOGM has shown us that although world leaders will play politics on the issue of human rights, the Australian media and public will give issues such as accountability for war crimes and restoration of justice the importance they deserve.

In the face of mounting criticism, in failing to convince the world that it is not guilty, the Sri Lankan government has resorted to confuse the world through propaganda which aims to defame, discredit and distract those who are bold enough to step up and speak out against the Sri Lankan regime. These actions of a desperate regime are indicative of how low this pathetic government will stoop to, and are a measure of the success of our work.

The Tamil people in the North-East of the island of Sri Lanka have no rights, no freedom and no voice. It is our responsibility to stay strong, stay positive and most importantly stay focused on what the job at hand is.

Public Relations Team

Australian Tamil Congress

30 October

SMH Opinion Editorial - Human rights inaction 'a disgrace'

Radio New Zealand - Amnesty wants CHOGM meeting shifted from Sri Lanka

The Conversation - Devil in the discretion? Experts on the CHOGM 2011 communique

SMH - Sri Lanka pitches for Games over breakfast

AFP - Britain urges Sri Lanka to make progress on rights by 2013

News.com.au - Sri Lanka spruiks the 2013 CHOGM

29 October

SMH Opinion Editorial - See no evil is Australia's way on war crimes

The Age Opinion Editorial - Crew arranges deckchairs on stricken empire liner

SMH - Gillard double-crossed over Games bid

The Australian - CBD shut down as protesters march into Perth