UN Human Rights Council Urged to Remove Sri Lankan Ambassador ….

UN Human Rights Council Urged to Remove Sri Lankan Ambassador from Leading Social Forum: TGTE

Choosing Sri Lankan Ambassador to lead the 2018 Social Forum is an affront to the Human Rights Council and a snub to the Human Rights norms in general

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND, June 26, 2018 /EINPresswire.com/ —

In an urgent appeal to the President of UN Human Rights Council H.E. Ambassador Vojislav Šuc, the Minister for sports of Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) Mr. Aiyathurai Jeyakumar, urged the President of the Council to revoke the appointment of H.E. Mr. A.L Abdul Azeez as the Chairperson-Rapporteur for the 2018 Social Forum.

While TGTE congratulated UN Human Rights Council for coming up with the theme for the 2018 Social Forum namely, “the possibilities of using sport and the Olympic ideal to promote human rights for all and to strengthen universal respect for them”, it noted that choosing the permanent representative of Sri Lanka to lead the 2018 Social Forum is an affront to the Human Rights Council and a snub to the Human Rights norms in general.

“As a perpetrator of international War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide, we believe that it would be inappropriate for Sri Lanka to be tasked with the great and important responsibility to lead the Social Forum, which the Resolution 35/28 defines as an “open and fruitful dialogue on issues linked with the national and international environment needed for the promotion of the enjoyment of all human rights by all”, said TGTE in its letter to the President of the Council.

“It is undisputable that Sri Lanka does not uphold the human rights norms that the Social Forum is designed to promote. You need look no further than the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights own report “Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka” published on January 28, 2018, for evidence of Sri Lanka’s transgressions, both inconsistent with and an affront to the purpose of the Social Forum”

“We believe that the revocation of this appointment will signal to the international community that the Human Rights Council and the Office of the President do not tolerate human rights transgressors, and that all Member States will be held accountable for human rights violations”

“Taking the above into account, in order to protect the credibility of the Human Rights Council and the Social Forum, TGTE reaffirms its respectful request that your Excellency revoke its endorsement of H.E. Mr. A.L Abdul Azeez as Chairperson-Rapporteur for the 2018 Social Forum and appoint an alternative nominee, bearing in mind the principle of regional rotation. In doing so, the Human Rights Council will underscore its authority and integrity in upholding the spirit, purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations” the letter concluded.

Contact: pmo@tgte.org

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka faced repeated mass killings in 1958, 1977, and 1983 and the mass killings in 2009 prompted UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to appoint a Panel of Experts to report on the scale of the killings.

According to UN internal review report on Sri Lanka, over 70,000 Tamils were killed in six months in early 2009 and Tamil women were sexually assaulted and raped by the Sri Lankan Security forces. There are over 90,000 Tamil war widows and thousands of Tamils disappeared due the conflict. A report by the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) published details of Sri Lankan Military run “Rape Camps”, where Tamil women are being held as sex slaves.

According to this UN report, the killings and other abuses that took place amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Independent experts believe that there are elements of these abuses that constitute an act of genocide.

Members of the Sri Lankan security forces are almost exclusively from the Sinhalese community and the victims are all from the Tamil community. A Buddhist Monk shot and killed a Sri Lankan Prime Minister 1959 for having talks with Tamils.

Tamils overwhelmingly voted in a Parliamentary election in 1977 to establish an independent and sovereign country called Tamil Eelam. This Parliamentary election was conducted by the Sri Lankan Government.

ABOUT TRANSNATIONAL GOVERNMENT OF TAMIL EELAM (TGTE):

Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) is a democratically elected Government of a million strong Tamils (from the island of Sri Lanka) living in several countries around the world. TGTE was formed after the mass killing of Tamils by the Sri Lankan Government in 2009.

TGTE twice held internationally supervised elections among Tamils around the world to elect 132 Members of Parliament. It has two champers of Parliament: The House of Representatives and Senate and a Cabinet.

TGTE is leading a campaign to realize Tamils’ political aspirations through peaceful, democratic and diplomatic means. The Constitution of the TGTE mandates that it should realize its political objective only through peaceful means.

The Prime Minister of TGTE is Mr. Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran, a New York based lawyer.

For information contact: pmo@tgte.org Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam TGTE +1-609-658-2847 email us here