SOUTH AFRICAN TAMIL FEDERATION SUPPORTS RESOLUTION AT UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL SESSION FOR AN INTERNATIONAL AND INDEPENDENT INQUIRY INTO HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS OF TAMILS IN SRI LANKA

(Art work by Shan Sundaram) By Subry Govender The South African Tamil Federation (SATF) has supported moves by the United States, United Kingdom and other countries to call for an international and independent commission of inquiry into the allegations of human rights violations of Tamils in Sri Lanka. The SATF's support is contained in a letter submitted on Monday this week to the United Nations Human Rights Council session which is currently being held in Geneva, Switzerland. A resolution for an international and independent inquiry is most likely to be adopted at the UNHCR session on Friday this week. South Africa has not yet announced what its position will be on the resolution but according to recent pronouncements by the Department of International Relations, the country's delegate at the UNHCR will most likely either abstain or vote for the resolution. South Africa will not vote against the resolution. The plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka has become a major issue at the UNHCR session in Geneva following claims that between 70 000 and 100 000 Tamils were slaughtered during the last days of the civil war in 2009 by Government soldiers. (Art work by Shan Sundaram) Tamil leaders in the North and East of Sri Lanka and in the Tamil diaspora in England, United States, Canada, Australia and other countries have also claimed that since the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) in 2009, the violation of human rights through land invasions of Tamil areas in the North and East, desecration of religious sites, arrest and torture of civilians and the rapes of women have continued unabated. The situation of Tamils in Sri Lanka had also become a major issue during the Commonwealth Conference held in Colombo, capital of Sri Lanka, late last year. During the conference, President Jacob Zuma was quoted as saying that South Africa would help Sri Lanka to set up a South African-style Truth and Reconciliation Commission(TRC) to promote peace, unity and justice. During his state of the nation address recently, Zuma also announced the appointment of ANC Deputy President, Cyril Ramaphosa, as a Special Envoy to Sri Lanka in order to help in promoting a political solution. The SATF said in the letter to the UNHCR that it supported, in addition to the independent inquiry, the holding of an internationally-supervised referendum among Sri Lankan Tamils inside and outside the country so that Tamils could decide their own political future. The SATF, among other points of concern, said: "There can be no reconciliation without the full investigation into the atrocities and senseless killings executed by the Sri Lankan Government soldiers. Those responsible must be called to account by an international and independent commission of inquiry. "Successive governments in Sri Lanka and the current Rajapakse regime do not recognise the Tamil people's rights to freedom but treat the Tamils as second and third class citizens. "The South African Tamil Federation calls for United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon's independent panel of expert's findings into gross human rights violations in Sri Lanka to be recognized and addressed by the Sri Lankan Government as a matter of urgency. "The South African Tamil Federation calls on the South African Government, its' neighbours and all world leaders to hold the moral high ground and vote in favour of the UNHRC resolutions. "In finding a lasting political solution, one needs to first acknowledge the origins of the struggle of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka and address the discrimination and systematic oppression by their own Government - the Government of Sri Lanka." ends - ms/dbn