The Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) has condemned Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath’s address at the UN Human Rights Council this week, accusing Colombo of failing to deliver on promises of accountability, reconciliation and devolution, more than a year after Anura Kumara Dissanayake came to power.
In a statement responding to Herath’s speech in Geneva, ITAK expressed “deep disappointment” at the government’s lack of progress, warning that even “the low hanging fruits have not been harvested.”
The party highlighted how the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) continues to be used despite repeated assurances of repeal and calls for a moratorium. “It is a matter of regret that having taken a firm position not to enact any new law to replace the PTA, the Minister now says that a new counter terrorism legislation would be introduced,” ITAK said. Similarly, no steps have been taken to repeal the repressive Online Safety Act.
The statement criticised Herath’s rejection of international accountability, branding his insistence that external action would “create divisions” as “hugely problematic.” ITAK pointed out that more than fifteen years after the end of the armed conflict, “there has been no internal mechanism for accountability whatsoever.”
The party underscored Colombo’s refusal to acknowledge the mass graves uncovered at Chemmani in Jaffna, where more than 240 skeletal remains have been exhumed. “It is a known fact that no local expertise is available for the identification of these victims,” ITAK said, noting that the government has still not sought international assistance.
The letter states that excavations are point to “the uncovering of clear evidence [of] genocidal intent at Chemmani”.
ITAK also welcomed India’s statement at the Council reiterating calls for “meaningful devolution” and “early conduct of Provincial Council elections,” but condemned Colombo’s attempt to indefinitely delay polls. The government has insisted that elections will only be held after a delimitation process, which ITAK described as “a recipe to delay… by at least several years.”
“The government is breaching its promise to the Tamil speaking peoples of the North and East by unduly denying their franchise,” the party warned. It called on Colombo to immediately approve a private member’s bill put forward by MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam to enable provincial elections.
The statement was signed by ITAK leaders C V K Sivagnanam and M A Sumanthiran. See the full text below.
