Sri Lanka: Charges of War Crimes

Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal Findings Against Sri Lanka on Charges of War Crimes

The Australasian Federation of Tamil Associations (AFTA), the umbrella body of the peak Tamil associations in Australia and New Zealand, welcomes the preliminary findings of the Milan based Permanent People’ Tribunal (PPT) after holding hearings on the 14th and 15th of January on war crime charges on Sri Lanka. In its preliminary findings issued on Saturday the 16th, PPT said Sri Lankan Government is "guilty of War-Crimes" and "guilty of Crimes Against Humanity”. The tribunal also concluded that the charge of Genocide requires further investigations.

Harrowing evidence including video footage was submitted by eye witnesses of the use of heavy artillery and phosphorous munitions, and of the continuous violation of human rights by military activity to a panel of 10 international jurors over two days. Eye witnesses included several escapees from the final week of Sri Lankan offensive in the Mullaitivu "No Fire Zone", where more than 20,000 Tamil civilians were allegedly slaughtered by Sri Lankan Army (SLA) raining heavy weapons on them. On the 16th in Dublin, the PPT chairman Francois Houtart read the following preliminary findings of the Peoples Tribunal on the war in Sri Lanka and its aftermath:

That the Sri Lankan Government is guilty of war crimes

That the Sri Lankan Government is guilty of crimes against humanity

That the charge of genocide requires further investigation

That the International Community, particularly the UK and USA, share responsibility for the breakdown of the peace process. The PPT has previously examined the cases of Tibet, Western Sahara, Argentina, Eritrea, the Philippines, El Salvador, Afghanistan, East Timor, Zaire, Guatemala, Armenian Genocide, the intervention of the United States in Nicaragua, the Brazilian Amazon, and others.

AFTA calls upon the International community in general, and the Australian and New Zealand governments in particular, to call on the Sri Lankan Government to cooperate with the UN to conduct an independent inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated during the final stages of the war and its aftermath.

AFTA also would like to call on the independent media in Australia and New Zealand to give maximum publicity to the PPT’s findings so that both governments could be persuaded to take necessary diplomatic action to render justice to the victims of these war crimes and crimes against humanity.

ENDS

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