Protect rights of Sri Lankan Tamils: Stalin to UN HRC

DMK Working President and Tamil Nadu Opposition Leader M K Stalin today sought the intervention of a UN Human Rights organisation to "protect" the rights of Sri Lankan Tamils living in the island nation.
In his letter to UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Katy Gilmore, Stalin alleged "serious human rights violations" by the Sri Lankan armed forces during the peaking of hostilities in 2009.
"Lakhs of Tamils are still missing (since then) and the Sri Lankan government has not come up with any constructive mechanism to find them out," he said.
Even after the UN intervention for independent and credible investigation into war crimes, Colombo has not done anything in this regard, he alleged.

He charged the Lankan army with having "encroached" a large part of land in Tamil dominated areas even as all "human rights covenants" have been violated by that government.
"Therefore, the personal intervention of the UN Human Rights Council is the need of the hour to protect the Tamils living in Sri Lanka," he added.

Pressing for a "reliable independent investigation" by international judges into the alleged war crimes on Tamils, he said they also required a "meaningful political solution," which was long "overdue."
"I am sure that it can only be ensured by a referendum among Ealam Tamils including Tamils living abroad."

"I hope that this (ensuing) session of the Human Rights Council will take earnest steps to uphold the values of human rights and also for meaningful political solution of the choice of Ealam Tamils," he added.