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A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Saturday, May 18, 2019
British opposition leaders commit to justice, accountability and Tamil self-determination
18 May 2019
A future Labour government would be committed to the causes of achieving
justice and accountability for the Tamil people, as well as recognising
their right to self-determination, the party’s leading figures said
this week at an event marking the tenth anniversary of Mullivaikkal in
Parliament.
“This is a sad occasion because we are commemorating the tenth
anniversary of that terrible massacre,” said Labour leader and Leader of
the Opposition Jeremy Corbyn MP.
“We need a recognition of the atrocities, an end to the ongoing human
rights violations, accountability for the mass atrocities,” Mr Corbyn
said adding that “a political settlement and acknowledgment of the right
of self-determination of the Tamil people is crucial to a sustainable
peace.”
“Human rights violations and the persecution of the Tamil people are
ongoing in Sri Lanka,” he said. The ongoing use of torture as a common
tactic in Sri Lanka was unacceptable, Mr Corbyn added.
A future Labour government would use diplomatic pressure and action on trade and arms sales to push for human rights, he said.
“Today we commemorate those who lost their lives at Mullivaikkal those
years ago,” Mr Corbyn said. “In their memory and their honour, let’s get
justice for those who have committed atrocities,” he said.
The Labour leader also condemned the Easter Sunday attacks as well as the anti-Muslim violence which followed.
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell MP spoke on the need to recognise the
right to self-determination, stating [we must] “recognise what the Tamil
people have faced but also what they desire for their future.”
Speaking on the danger still faced by Tamil journalists in Sri Lanka and
the silencing of ‘anyone associated with the fight for freedom and
justice’, Mr McDonnell said “when we [the Labour Party] go into
government, we will commit to ensuring that the UK is a leading light in
the fight for justice.”
Responding to criticism from the audience about the UK government’s arms
sales and military support of Sri Lanka, Mr McDonnell said that the
supplying of arms to and training of abusive militaries, including Sri
Lanka, would cease under a Labour government.
Speaking on the need to continue pushing for justice, shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry MP said:
“We stand with you today in shared anger that no-one has ever been held to account for the disgraceful Mullivaikkal slaughter.”
“We can still give the victims justice. A future Labour government will demand justice for Mullivaikkal.”
“Sri Lanka can never truly rid the country of sectarian violence and
terror and hatred until they face up to the violence and hatred that
they themselves perpetrated on the Tamil people.”
“I stand with the Tamil community and calls for justice and
accountability,” said Preet Gill MP, shadow minister for international
development. “We have consistently supported the establishment of a fair
and impartial tribunal to investigate war crimes and atrocities,” she
said. Echoing her remarks, shadow foreign minister Liz McInnes MP said,
“we need to have a full investigation and we need to start righting the
wrongs and repairing the damage.”
The event was chaired by Siobhain McDonagh MP, who opened the evening
with a minute’s silence. Several other Labour parliamentarians attended
and made remarks in support of the Tamil cause for justice and
accountability. Virendra Sharma MP said that the party’s commitment to
the Tamil people was unwavering. Stephen Timms MP talked about the
thousands of forcibly disappeared who remain unaccounted for, while
human rights violations continue in the present.
Wes Streeting MP, a vice-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for
Tamils noted the palpable concern among Tamils that the current security
situation in Sri Lanka, following the Easter Sunday terror attacks,
could be used a pretext to further clamp down on rights.
Luke Pollard MP stressed that the Labour Party must stand for truth and
justice, while Stella Creasy MP said that there must be an international
and independent process to investigate and prosecute war crimes and
atrocities. Karen Lee MP said she had come to show solidarity with the
Tamil cause and her Tamil constituents in Lincoln. “We will get the
truth and we will hold the Sri Lankan government to account for it,”
added Sarah Champion MP.
Patrick Lewis, a barrister at Garden Court Chambers, spoke of his
extensive experience representing Tamil asylum seekers. Criticising the
British Home Office for its lack of ‘humanity’ in its discounting of
evidence of torture in deciding asylum cases, Mr Lewis stressed the
importance of reforming the Home Office, including acknowledging the
ongoing violence inflicted on Tamils in Sri Lanka. Gareth Thomas MP also
spoke on British asylum policy, referring to the ‘shameful’
collaboration of the Home Office with Sri Lankan authorities which has
resulted in the arrest of returned asylum seekers in Colombo.
Chief executive of Freedom From Torture Sonya Sceats emphasised that Sri
Lanka’s torture apparatus did not wind down at the end of the war, and
that the Sri Lankan president and his government had gone to extreme
lengths to discredit torture survivors.
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British Tamil activist Krish Sabapathy asserted that ten years after the
genocide, the Tamil people would continue to remember and to resist.
Student activist Vithya Nandakumar, who was 9 years old in May 2009,
spoke on the enduring trauma of the genocide and the next generation’s
resolve to continue the fight for justice. Tamil activist and member of
the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) S Yogalingam also
urged the Tamil community to continue the struggle for justice and
self-determination. Sen Kandiah of Tamils for Labour stressed that no
progress had been made in accountabulity and said the group was calling
for the Labour Party to recognise that what happened was genocide.
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“The British government must send a message that it stands in solidarity
with its Tamil people in their struggle for justice and
accountability,” said Tamil Guardian co-editor Thusiyan Nandakumar,
questioning the UK’s military support and engagement with Sri Lanka. “It
is time we look beyond the UN Human Rights Council, and the UK and
Labour Party must take the lead on that, including recognising that what
happened was a genocide,” he added. Academic at City University Dr
Madurika Rasaratnam also referred to Sri Lanka remaining a key
beneficiary of western military aid, stating “because we have not had
any accountability for the atrocities of the end of the war, the spectre
of violence continues to haunt Sri Lanka again.”
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