Tamils for Trump Urge Trump to Refer Sri Lankan War Crimes to Tribunal or ICC Since Sri Lanka Betrayed Agreement with US at UNHRC
New York, New York (PRWEB) September 14, 2017 -- Aljazeera News Agency reported on September 03, 2017 that "Human rights groups in South America have filed war crimes lawsuits against a former Sri Lankan general who is now his country's ambassador to Brazil. The lawsuits against Jagath Jayasuriya allege he oversaw military units that attacked hospitals and killed, disappeared and tortured thousands of people in the final phase of Sri Lanka's civil war in 2009.
Carlos Castresana Fernandez, the lawyer coordinating the effort, told the Associated Press news agency that suits have been filed on Monday in Brazil and Colombia. ‘This is one genocide that has been forgotten, but this will force democratic countries to do something,’ Fernandez said. ‘This is just the beginning of the fight.’”
The spokesman for Tamils for Trump, Mr. Selvakumar, said that “The Sri Lankan President and Army Chief have made the following statements in response to actions against Sri Lankan war crimes by Human rights groups led by the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) in South America:”
- “Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena addressed a convention of his Sri Lanka Freedom Party on Sunday saying, "I state very clearly that I will not allow anyone in the world to touch Jagath Jayasuriya or any other military chief or any war hero in this country." This was reported by the New York Times on September 3, 2017.
Link: https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/09/03/world/asia/ap-as-sri-lanka-war-crimes.html?mcubz=3
- “Sarath Fonseka, the former Sri Lankan Army chief, told reporters in Colombo on August 31, 2017, "When I was the Commander I did receive certain complaints of crimes committed by Jayasuriya's brigade, mostly to do with crimes perpetrated on those detained during the war." This was reported by the Business Standard on September 1, 2017. Furthermore, the Business Standard reported that Mr. Fonseka told the media that he was prepared to testify in a court against his successor, Jagath Jayasuriya, in the war crimes investigation.”
The spokesman for the Tamils for Trump, Mr. Selvakumar, continued that “We know two important certainties. One is that Sri Lankan Army Chief has confirmed that the war crimes took place during the ethnic war, and he is willing to testify. The second fact is that Sri Lankan President Sirisena promised that he would not allow anyone to prosecute the Sri Lankan Sinhala war criminals, either in Sri Lanka or elsewhere.
“Sri Lankan government has offered Jagath Jayasuriya staunch protection from prosecution, serves as a stark reminder that the island remains a haven of impunity.
“The agreement between Sri Lanka and the UNHRC member states was ‘In a joint resolution in 2015 at the UN Human Rights Council, Sri Lanka promised, among other things, a truth-seeking mechanism, a judicial mechanism to prosecute those accused of human rights abuses and a new constitution that covers the island nation's varied ethnicities and religions.’
The above-mentioned agreement was reported by Aljazeera on September 3, 2017.
Link: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/09/sri-lanka-leader-shield-general-war-crimes-case-170903193335527.html
“We, the U.S. Tamils, urge President Trump and his State Department to refer these war crimes to the UN Security Council so that a Sri Lankan war crime tribunal can be established, and the Tamils can finally get justice for the Sri Lankan war crimes that were committed by the Sinhalese army against the Tamils during the ethnic war.”
About Tamils for Trump
Tamils for Trump is a political activist group comprised of Americans; the majority are Tamil Americans. They believe that over 145,000 Tamil civilians living in Sri Lanka were massacred during the last weeks of the Sri Lankan ethnic war. They have also observed post-war behaviors of the Sri Lankan Sinhalese victors and concluded that Tamils in Sri Lanka will only be safe when this war-torn island is divided into two individual self-governing nations.
It is of interest to note that according to the UN Internal Review Report on Sri Lanka, around 70,000 Tamil civilians may have been massacred in the last six months of the ethnic war. Also, Rt. Rev. Dr. Rayappu Joseph, the Catholic Bishop of Mannar in Sri Lanka, gave a presentation to the Sri Lankan Lessons Learnt & Reconciliation.
Communication Director, Tamils for Trump, http://www.tamilsfortrump.com, +1 (914) 721-0505, [email protected]
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