5 years today - HRW, TAG urge international intervention, ethnic conflict not 'war on terror' says UK Foreign Office minister
 04 May 2014

4 May 2009 - Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Tamils Against Genocide (TAG) urge international action, Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict is not 'war on terror' says UK Foreign Office ministerThe International Criminal Court Chief prosecutor, Moreno-Ocampo, was urged by an advocacy group to open investigations into war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by four high-ranking officials in the Sri Lankan government, reports TamilNet.

Tamil Against Genocide (TAG), in a letter to Moreno, urged the ICC to open investigations against Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa, Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, MP Basil Rajapaksa and Army Commander Sarath Fonseka.

“The quartet should be investigated for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide of Sri Lankan civilian Tamils unconnected with the conflict between the government and the LTTE,” the letter read.

In an opinion piece on Sri Lanka and the need to address Tamil grievances, the Human Rights Watch Legal and Policy Director, James Ross, wrote, 

“The current government is unlikely to take up these initiatives on its own. The United States and other concerned states have an important role to play in Sri Lanka's future. Otherwise the bloody fighting on the sandy strip will not be marking the end of the current war, but sowing the seeds of the next one.”

Speaking on the conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE at the House of Commons, the Foreign Office Minister, Lord Malloch-Brown, said, 

“I share the view that ‘the war on terror is a much abused and overused phrase. Obviously, this is a quarrel that has ancient roots. It is also an extremely violent quarrel, with appalling things being done by both sides.”

5 Years Today - HRW, TAG Urge International Intervention, Ethnic Conflict Not 'War on Terror' Says UK Forei... by Thavam Ratna