Strong UNHRC resolutions calling for international investigation mechanisms and action to alleviate oppression in the North-East will be vital to fulfil the needs of war victims, the Chief Minister of the Northern Province has said.

Speaking at the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) committee meeting on Friday, the Chief Minister, C V Wigneswaran said:

Together Against Genocide (TAG) unreservedly welcomes the report of the OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka.  We urge the government of Sri Lanka to accept in whole the recommendations of the report.
 
This is a hopeful first step on the long road to justice. Each of the lives lost remains precious to us and we continue to hope to see them fully accounted for and their families granted Justice.
 

A new infographic created by the advocacy organisation Sri Lanka Campaign highlights that as many as 147,000 people could be unaccounted for after the end of the armed stage of Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict.

Noting that “a wider pattern of mass violence in Sri Lanka” had resulted in the death of thousands on the island “but particularly Tamils over many decades,” a briefing report by the Sri Lanka campaign provides new infographics and insight on Sri Lanka for the UN Human Rights Council's 30th session.

In a briefing outlining the organisation’s stance on the UN report into Sri Lanka’s mass atrocities, (OISL), Sri Lanka Campaign, said,

“There is now no doubt that war crimes and crimes against humanity were committed by both sides of Sri Lana’s civil war, and that many of the tens of thousands of civilians who died in the early months of 2009 were murdered by their own government. The single most positive step the new government of Sri Lanka could make is accept this basic truth.”

“With tens of thousands dead or unaccounted for, 2009 saw the worst violence Sri Lanka has ever seen, and most of the victims were Tamil. Sadly, this tragedy is part of a wider pattern of mass violence in Sri Lanka which has resulted in deaths of tens of thousands of people from all ethnicities, but particularly Tamils over many decades.”

In his report to the Human Rights Council today, the Special Rapporteur on the Promotion of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence, Pablo de Greiff, called on Sri Lanka to take immediate action necessary to achieve sustainable peace.

Mr de Greiff called on Sri Lanka to develop a comprehensive transitional justice strategy that included in-depth reform of the justice and security systems, the establishment of independent truth-seeking mechanisms and the design of a comprehensive reparation scheme, among other things; and, in parallel, to take immediate action on the fate of the disappeared, land issues, arbitrary detentions, surveillance and harassment, particularly of women in the North-East, and psycho-social support for victims. He added that these steps needed to be taken “in relation to ensuring criminal accountability".

Addressing Sri Lanka’s past history of failed commissions he highlighted the failure of past commissions of inquiry and the resulting erosion of trust of victims and society.

The walk to raise awareness for Tamil demands for an international accountability mechanism concluded on Monday, when it reached its destination in Jaffna.

The last leg of the walk, from Kaithady to Nallur, in Jaffna, saw participants stop at the site of the Chemmani mass grave, where candles were lit in memory of the Tamils who were buried there.

CIVICUS World Alliance for Citizen Participation called on the UN Human Rights Council to “stay the course and serve as a springboard for just action” on Sri Lanka, at the opening day of the 30th UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva on Monday.

In a statement delivered at the session, CIVICUS said it was awaiting the High Commissioner’s report on violations of international humanitarian law in Sri Lanka, adding,

The International Truth & Justice Project released two interviews with Tamil victims of torture at the hands of Sri Lankan security forces, a practise that has continued on the island despite the change in government earlier this year.

"On 18 May 2015, ‘Witness1’, attended a Mullivaikkal Remembrance Day event for those who died in the last phase of the civil war. Within days he was abducted and taken to an unknown site where his torturers showed him photographs of himself at the event."

He was accused of trying to regroup the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam or LTTE, a charge he denies. He had however assisted the opposition Tamil National Alliance party.

The 30^th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) commences today amidst widespread calls for an international accountability process to deal with findings of the Office of the High Commissioner’s (OHCHR) Investigation into Sri Lanka (OISL).

Sri Lanka’s new government will face the council whilst having failed to gain the trust of the predominantly Tamil community in the heavily militarised North-East. Amidst reports of ongoing torture and sexual violence under the new government, Sri Lanka’s foreign minister is expected to work at the UNHRC session this month to garner support at the council to allow Sri Lanka to deal with the findings of the OISL report and ongoing human rights issues domestically.

Following a number of specific events at the UNHRC pertaining to human rights in Sri Lanka, the findings of the OISL report will be discussed by the council on October 02.

Keep an eye on Tamil Guardian over the next 3 weeks for updates from the 30^th session of the UNHRC.

The Malaysian authorities must drop charges against an activist for her role in screening the award-winning documentary film ‘No Fire Zone’ without censorship board approval, said Human Rights Watch.

In a statement released on Monday, said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch said,

“Prosecuting someone for the private showing of an award-winning film shows how determined Malaysian authorities are to stomp on the right to free expression… The government should call off its intensifying assault on free expression and promptly amend the Film Censorship Act.”

Lena Hendry, a staff member of the human rights group Pusat KOMAS, was charged over the film screening in July 2013 and faces up to three years in prison if found guilty of breaching the Film Censorship Act.

“The charges against Hendry appear to have been primarily motivated by the Malaysian government’s desire to appease Sri Lankan embassy officials, who had publicly demanded that the film not be shown and visited the venue, the Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, on the day of the film’s showing to urge the venue’s managers to cancel the event,” said Human Rights Watch.