Tamil activists urge India to co-sponsor anti-Lanka resolution

Tamil rights activists urged India to co-sponsor a US resolution against Sri Lanka in forthcoming session of UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

New Delhi: Tamil rights activists on Tuesday urged India to co-sponsor a US resolution against Sri Lanka in the forthcoming session of United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva and make it stronger. UK-based British Tamil Forum (BTF)and Tamils Against Genocide (TAG), a US-based Tamil advocacy group, today said that they hope India will not only co-sponsor the US based resolution but also bring out a stronger resolution. "We urge India to not just support but also co-sponsor the US based resolution against Sri Lanka and also push to make it stronger. We also hope that India brings out a stronger resolution," Kana Nirmalan, Human Rights Coordinator, BTF said. Calling for independent international inquiry into the allegations of war crimes committed by Sri Lanka, the groups said that they want creation of an International Commission of Investigation.

"We have no faith in the local judicial system in Sri Lanka. It has failed. We urge India to advocate the creation of an International Commission of Investigation to bring justice to the victims," Nirmalan said. Henrietta Briscoe of TAG said that India should push to make the US based resolution more stronger. "India should take leadership and push for a stronger resolution. Co-sponsoring the resolution is needed," Briscoe said. She also emphasised the need for an independent international investigation into the alleged human right violation by Sri Lanka. "An independent international inquiry is important. We also want that any investigation should not limit itself to just the last few months of the war but should look at the context and the atrocities committed on Tamils since decades," Briscoe said. PTI