Tamil Diaspora Welcome the UN Call to Repatriate Commander of Sri Lankan Peacekeeping Forces in Mali Following Human Rights Review

NEW YORK, Oct. 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The US Tamil Political Action Council (USTPAC), Australian Tamil Congress (ATC), British Tamils Forum (BTF), and the Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC) collectively welcome the announcement by the United Nations (October 19) that Sri Lanka should immediately repatriate the commander of its 200-strong contingent assigned to the UN peacekeeping force in Mali following a review of his human rights background. https://www.un.org/press/en/2018/db181019.doc.htm

This is the first time the UN has asked the Government of Sri Lanka to repatriate a peacekeeper because of his participation in alleged war crimes during the country's civil war. As per the reports, UN received credible information that the officer concerned, Lt. Col. Kalana Amunupure, committed war crimes during the last stages of Sri Lanka's civil war that ended in 2009. It is reported that Amunupure was one of the top commanders of the notorious 58^th Division of the Sri Lankan army that was implicated in a 2015 UN investigation to have been involved in the repeated shelling of UN sites and hospitals as well as torture and the killing of surrendees.

As per Yasmin Sooka, the executive director of the South Africa-based 'International Truth and Justice Project', "We still don't know how many tens of thousands of Tamils died in the 2009 war and not one person has been held accountable – maybe this small step can give survivors a little hope that one day they will get justice. There is no doubt this action sends a very strong message to Sri Lanka that alleged war criminals can no longer be rewarded with prestigious UN jobs and in future will not escape stringent vetting." We fully concur with the sentiment expressed by Ms. Sooka and express our profound gratitude for the consistent role her organisation has been playing to promote human rights accountability in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka's 'Mali episode' is not an isolated blot on Sri Lankan military's reputation, but the continuation of a pattern, which includes the suspension of the deployment of Sri Lankan peacekeepers to Lebanon earlier this year after the Sri Lankan Army attempted to send them without proper human rights vetting, and the repatriation of 134 Sri Lankan peacekeepers from Haiti in 2007 after a UN investigation alleged they had been involved in systematic child sexual exploitation.

There is no doubt the Sri Lankan military is trying to portray its UN assignments as international endorsement of its record and last year described the deployment to Mali as "one more feather in its cap." It is important, therefore, that Sri Lanka must not be allowed to continue using UN peacekeeping to pretend that its military has eluded accountability for its war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in 2009.

Our collective call to the international community - the countries respecting human rights and rule of law, and the responsible UN officials -  is that they should impress upon Sri Lanka in no uncertain terms that the only way Sri Lanka's military can truly overcome the increased scrutiny and fully rehabilitate its battered image is to faithfully implement all aspects of UNHRC resolution 30/1 extended by 34/L which Sri Lanka co-sponsored, including commitments to establish a special court with credible international participation and effective vetting of public and security officials.

For more information, please contact:
S. Sangeeth, BTF  
T: +44 (0) 7412 435697 
Website: www.britishtamilsforum.org 
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @tamilsforum

S. Sivam, USTPAC
T: +1 202 595 3123
Website: www.ustpac.org
Email: [email protected] 
Twitter: @UstpacAdvocacy

R. Jeganathan, President, ATC
T: +61 300 660 629
Website: http://www.australiantamilcongress.com/en/ 
Twitter: @austamilcongres

S. Sangeeth, BTF
T: +44 (0) 7412 435697
Website: www.britishtamilsforum.org
Email: [email protected] 
Twitter: @tamilsforum

Raj Thavaratnasingham, CTC
Tel: 416-522-9972
email: [email protected] 
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ctconline  

Media Contact:
Elias Jeyarajah
[email protected] 
919-247-4072

SOURCE USTPAC

Related Links

http://www.ustpac.org