The Australian Tamil Congress (ATC) welcomes the motion on alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka proposed by Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young and passed with support from all major parties in the Australian Senate on Thursday 24 June 2010.

Following Tuesday's announcement by the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General of a three-member advisory panel on alleged human rights abuses during the final stages of Sri Lanka's civil war in 2009, the ATC hopes the UN will soon take the next step towards actually investigating these alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka.

SENATE MOTION:

That the Senate:

(a) notes:

(i) the recent report from the International Crisis Group on War Crimes in Sri Lanka;

(ii) this report recommends, among other things, for the United Nations to conduct an independent international inquiry into the alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka during the last year of the conflict;

(b) welcomes:

(i) The United Nations Secretary General’s establishment of an Advisory Panel on Sri Lanka;

(ii) The establishment in Sri Lanka of a Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission, and urges the Sri Lankan Government to ensure the Commission operates in an independent way; and

(c) reaffirms the importance of credible investigations into all allegations of violations of human rights, and

(d) Calls on the Australian Government to support an effective process of national reconciliation, to allow Sri Lanka to move forward after years of conflict