The council held a special session on May 26 and 27, 2009, on the human rights situation in Sri Lanka, a week after the government of Sri Lanka announced that its forces have defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) militarily.  This defeat was achieved at a heavy human cost and has resulted in making the Tamil nation completely defenceless and shifting the political balance entirely in favour of a brutal and intransigent political establishment of the permanent larger Sinhala nation in the island of Sri Lanka.

AFTA regrets to note that the Human Rights Council did not even express its concern in its resolution for the hundreds of thousands of people facing indefinite detention in government camps.  The council has ignored the urgent needs of these displaced people and wasted an important opportunity pave the way to gain access for humanitarian agencies and independent observers including the media to provide humanitarian assistance and to monitor compliance with international norms.

The resolution passed with 29 votes in favour, 12 against, and 6 abstentions, instead of calling for an independent war crime inquiry has largely commended the Sri Lankan government for its current genocidal policies under the pretext of fighting terrorism.

During the special session, UN high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, called for an independent international investigation into violations of international human rights and humanitarian law during the recent fighting, including those specifically responsible. UN estimates say that more than 7,000 civilians have been killed in the fighting in Sri Lanka since late January 2009. A majority of council members - including China, South Africa, and Uruguay – ignored the call for accountability and justice for victims by Navi Pillay and the resolution adopted reaffirms the principle of non-interference in the domestic jurisdiction of states, which in AFTA’s opinion is a step backward for the Human Rights Council and the United Nations.
 
AFTA regrets to note that Brazil, Cuba, India, and Pakistan led efforts to prevent the passage of a stronger resolution that was put forward by the 17 members of the council that convened the Special Session: Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, Mauritius, Mexico, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Slovakia, South Korea, Switzerland, Ukraine, Uruguay, and the United Kingdom.  AFTA commend Argentina, Chile, the Czech Republic, Mauritius, Mexico, and Switzerland for their efforts on behalf of a stronger resolution. These nations negotiated hard to uphold the council's mandate to respond effectively to human rights emergencies. It is regrettable that they were not supported by the majority.

The rejected resolution deplored abuses by both government forces and the LTTE, urged the government to cooperate fully with humanitarian organizations and to provide protection to civilians and displaced persons, and made an appeal to the Sri Lankan government to respect media freedom and investigate attacks against journalists and human rights defenders. It also called on the UN high commissioner for human rights to keep the council informed about the situation on the ground.

AFTA feels that the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon’s recent comments while he was in Sri Lanka, praising the Sri Lankan government for “doing its utmost” and for its “tremendous efforts”  and accepting government assurances, repeatedly broken in the past, that it would ensure humanitarian access to civilians in need, has led to this dismal outcome at the council. 

The Secretary-General Ban should share the blame for the Human Rights Council's poor showing on Sri Lanka, which further reduces the little confidence Tamil Diaspora and the genocidally oppressed Tamil people in Sri Lanka had in the UN to achieve peace with justice.

AFTA calls upon the Australian Government, other governments and Human Rights groups to express their disappointment on this matter to the UN Human Rights Council, and urge its chair, Dr. Navi Pillay to initiate further possible action in the 12th session of the council, to protect the Human Rights of the displaced Tamils languishing in “concentration camps” and initiate an international investigation into alleged abuses during recent fighting.

AFTA calls on the media to take every effort to expose the continuing blatant violations of the human rights and the collective political, cultural, social and economic rights of the Tamil nation in the island of Sri Lanka.

Media Enquiries:
Sydney: Dr. Victor Rajakulendran 0402 484 209
Melbourne: Mr. Siva Sivakumar 0404 894 591
Canberra: Dr. Raga Ragavan 0402 387 920
Auckland: Dr. Siva Vasanthan 021 023 51 007
Wellington: Mr. Mani Maniparathy 027 448 0340

Media Release                                                                         28.05.2009