The Australian - Tamil refugee, Brami Jegan, seeks Senate seat

Senate Greens candidate Brami Jegan, a former banker and journalist, at
Sydney's Darling Harbour. Picture: Amos Aikman *Source:* The Australian

The Australian Tamil Congress (ATC) welcomes the announcement of Hon. Julia Gillard as our Prime Minister. The ATC Womens Advocacy Team is in particular proud to note Hon. Julia Gillard is our first female leader of the country.

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

An article by Kalyani Inpakumar, who heads the Women’s Advocacy Group of the Australian Tamil Congress. She also a leading member of the Global Tamil Women Forum, which is part of the Global Tamil Forum - an international organisation for Tamil solidarity. She can be contacted at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

In developing parts of the world like Sri Lanka, women remain more or less subjugated, writes Kalyani Inpakumar.

As Tamils in Australia, we feel for our brothers and sisters back home in Sri Lanka. The Australian Tamil Congress (ATC) was formed to unit all the Tamil organisations to make our voice more powerful.

ATC is part of a global organisation which is Global Tamil Forum and in March Global Tamil Women’s Forum was also launched.

I am from Tamil Eelam, a land that has been torn by the struggles of war for the last 30 years. 

Women are the most vulnerable victims in armed conflicts and post conflict situations. No age group is sheltered from the heinous acts of rape, sexual harassment, trafficking, prostitution and murder. 

Read more here: http://www.thescavenger.net/people/tamil-women-denied-right-to-live-in-peace-29674.html

The International Crisis Group has called on Australia to support an inquiry into alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka.

A Crisis Group report found tens of thousands of Tamils were killed or wounded and hundreds of thousands were denied food and medical care during the last five months of the Sri Lankan civil war.