UN Expert Panel Finds Allegations of War Crimes in Sri Lanka Credible, Calls for Independent International Inquiry

The Australian Tamil Congress welcomes the recent report on war crimes in Sri Lanka submitted to the United Nations (UN) Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon by a UN Expert Advisory Panel.

Portions of the yet-to-be published report leaked to Sri Lankan media revealed that the panel found allegations of war crimes in Sri Lanka to be credible and that the UN had failed to act to protect Tamil civilians despite having knowledge of the high civilian casualty rate.

The panel also recommended an international independent inquiry into war crimes in Sri Lanka, stating Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse's own internal inquiry, the ‘Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission', was "deeply flawed" and failed to "satisfy key international standards".

Sri Lanka was quick to denounce the findings of the report. Since the panel's establishment in 2010, Sri Lanka has repeatedly refused visas to the Expert Panel, blocking their visit to the island and has to date been defiant against any international independent inquiry into war crimes in the island.

"The international community, including Australia, failed to protect Tamil civilians who were victims of war crimes," said Dr Sam Pari, spokesperson for the Australian Tamil Congress. "It is now time for Australia to step away from the soft diplomacy it practices with Sri Lanka, and impose much needed pressure in the form of trade sanctions and travel bans for government officials, if it continues to obstruct an independent international inquiry into war crimes," she added.

Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapakse will be visiting Perth later this year to participate in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

Media contact:

Dr. Sam Pari, Australian Tamil Congress – 0433 428 967

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE on 22 February 2011 – www.australiantamilcongress.com

War Crimes Complaint Filed Against Former Australian DFAT Official

Tamil rights groups submitted a complaint to the International Criminal Court (ICC), calling on it for the investigation of Dr. Palitha Kohona, a dual Sri Lankan-Australian national and former senior official at the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Dr. Palitha Kohona is alleged to have been involved in war crimes against Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka.

The two leading organisations involved in the submission are US-based Tamils Against Genocide (TAG) and the Swiss Council of Eelam Tamils. "The argument thus far has been it is impossible to file at the ICC because Sri Lanka is not a signatory to the Rome Statute. However, Australia is a signatory, and Kohona's dual nationality creates a jurisdictional workaround for this crime," says Rajeev Sreetharan who leads the TAG team.

In Australia, the Australian Tamil Congress (ATC) has continued to gather evidence of war crimes committed in Sri Lanka during the last five years. "Many in the Australian Tamil community have lost loved ones due to what strongly identify as war crimes by Sri Lankan officials onto the Tamils. If a potential criminal is an Australian citizen, this raises questions of whether Australia will indirectly protect a war criminal or whether it will assert its jurisdiction over this crime," says Dr. Sam Pari, spokesperson for the ATC.

Dr. Kohona was one of a number of senior officials who had negotiated a surrender agreement promising prisoner-of-war status for 3 senior Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam combatants and up to 40 accompanying civilians. There is strong evidence to suggest that these surrendees were executed after their surrender. The submission calls upon an independent investigation into what unfolded during and since their surrender and focuses on all senior United Nations (UN) and Sri Lankan government and military officials involved.

In the months prior to May 2009, during the final stages of the war in Sri Lanka, up to 40,000 civilians, notably Tamils were estimated to have been killed. Human rights groups such as Amnesty International, International Crisis Group and Human Rights Watch have continuously called for an international independent inquiry into war crimes but the Sri Lankan government has been defiant. The UN has since established an ‘Expert Advisory Panel' but there has been hardly any progress.

Media contact:

Dr. Sam Pari, Australian Tamil Congress – 0433 428 967

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE on 9 December 2010 – www.australiantamilcongress.com

A female victim of alleged war crimes by the Sri Lankan Military has been identified as a Tamil journalist, Isaippiriyaa. Video and photographic evidence which emerged last week showed Tamil civilians stripped naked, blindfolded and hands bound before being executed by Sri Lankan Military personnel.

There are women among the victims, and with the lewd sexual comments being made by the perpetrators on the video there are serious concerns that these women may have been victims of sexual violence before their execution. One of the women has been identified by family and close contacts living overseas as being Isaippiriyaa, a Tamil media reporter. Also known as Shoba, she was a member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam but was never a combatant, and worked in their media division.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has already called for an independent investigation and Wikileaks documents recently revealed that the US believed that "responsibility for many of the alleged crimes rests with the country's senior civilian and military leadership, including President Rajapaksa and his brothers and opposition candidate General Fonseka".

"In light of all these mounting evidence, Australia's silence on this matter is very disturbing," says Dr Sam Pari, spokesperson for the Australian Tamil Congress. "It is high time our Prime Minister joins international calls for an independent international investigation into war crimes committed in Sri Lanka," she added.

Channel 4 News – Sri Lanka 'war crimes' video: woman's body identified http://www.channel4.com/news/sri-lanka-war-crimes-video-womans-body-identified

Channel 4 News – Sri Lanka execution video: new war crimes claims http://www.channel4.com/news/sri-lanka-execution-video-new-war-crimes-claims

WikiLeaks cables: ‘Sri Lankan president responsible for massacre of Tamils' http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/01/wikileaks-sri-lanka-mahinda-rajapaksa

Wikileaks: US memo accuses Sri Lanka President of war crimes http://www.channel4.com/news/wikileaks-sri-lanka-leadership-responsible-for-crimes

Media contact:

Dr Sam Pari – 0433 428 967

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE on 2 December 2010 - www.australiantamilcongress.com

The Australian Tamil Congress is calling on Prime Minister Julia Gillard to join international calls for an independent international investigation into war crimes committed in Sri Lanka, after further evidence of war crimes committed by Sri Lankan Armed Forces against Tamil civilians surfaced yesterday.

In a major public relations embarrassment, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse is heading home early from UK after Oxford Union, UK was forced to cancel his public address today following public outcry about the president's involvement in war crimes.

A report yesterday by British media Channel 4 discusses a five and a half minute video footage which allegedly shows Tamil civilians stripped naked, blindfolded with their hands bound before being executed by Sri Lankan Military personnel. There are women amongst the victims, and with the lewd sexual comments being made by the perpetrators on the video there are serious concerns that these women may have been victims of sexual violence before their execution.

British Prime Minister David Cameron called for an independent investigation a month ago when new photographic evidence suggestive of the Sri Lankan military's complicity in war crimes surfaced at the time.

The recent Wikileaks documents have also revealed that the US believes that "responsibility for many of the alleged crimes rests with the country's senior civilian and military leadership, including President Rajapaksa and his brothers and opposition candidate General Fonseka".

There are attempts being made by lawyers working for Tamil activists to obtain a war crimes arrest warrant against the President and senior member of his entourage while they are in UK.

Channel 4 News - Sri Lanka execution video: new war crimes claims http://www.channel4.com/news/sri-lanka-execution-video-new-war-crimes-claims

WikiLeaks cables: 'Sri Lankan president responsible for massacre of Tamils' http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/01/wikileaks-sri-lanka-mahinda-rajapaksa

Wikileaks: US memo accuses Sri Lanka President of war crimes http://www.channel4.com/news/wikileaks-sri-lanka-leadership-responsible-for-crimes

Mahinda Rajapaksa's Oxford Union talk cancelled http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11891866

Media contact:

Dr Sam Pari – 0433 428 967