New Oakland Institute report: Sri Lanka is an ‘ethnocratic state’, should be referred to Int'l Criminal Court (ICC)

" The report is titled Endless War: The Destroyed Land, Life, and Identity of the Tamils in Sri Lanka."

NEW YORK, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, March 16, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- From being a former colony of the British Empire to becoming a harsh colonial regime itself the story of modern day Sri Lanka is one rich in irony and lots of innocent blood.

Since Independence in 1948 successive governments in Colombo have subjected the Tamil People to racist discrimination, repeated state-sponsored pogroms and tried wipe out their way of life through systematic takeover of their traditional lands and sources of livelihood.

A new report by the California-based The Oakland Institute presents sordid details of how this colonial process has accelerated since the end of the civil war in 2009, which saw the Sri Lankan armed forces carry out genocide, Crimes Against Humanity and war crimes.

“12 years after the brutal end of the civil war, the island nation is increasingly an ethnocratic state – intensifying the colonization and Sinhalisation of Tamil lands” says the report titled Endless War: Endless War: The Destroyed Land, Life, and Identity of the Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Authored by Dr Anuradha Mittal, Executive Director of The Oakland Institute, the report calls upon the ongoing 46th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva to refer the situation in Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court to end impunity and to uphold justice and
human rights.

According to the report the military occupation of the traditional Tamil land is extreme – with a ratio of one soldier for every six civilians in the Northern Province and one soldier for every two civilians in the Mullaithivu District.

This has been followed by the forced establishment of Sinhalese settlements, victory monuments, archaeological reservations, wildlife sanctuaries, forest reserves, and special economic zones -all meant to deprive the local Tamil population of its land and wipe out their cultural identity.

The report further says that the current Zero Draft Resolution on Sri Lanka presented to the UNHRC is too weak and ignores the assessment made by the Human Rights Commissioner Bachelet, who has accused Sri Lanka of reneging on promises to ensure justice.

High Commissioner Bachelet and four former High Commissioners, nine former Special Rapporteurs, and all members of the UNSG’s Panel of Experts on Sri Lanka have also called to refer the matter to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) applauds The Oakland Institute and its Executive Director Anuradha Mittal for the very well researched and timely report, which challenges the assertion in the Zero Draft Resolution that progress is being made by the Sri Lankan government on the return of land to the Tamils, with facts, data and compelling pictures.

“This is a milestone report that brings out the true facts when there is complete blackout of news from independent sources” said the TGTE in a statement.

The Report proves The Oakland Institute’s sharp research to bring about true facts from countries where there is complete blackout of news from independent sources. This also proves that no matter how effectively oppressive Governments like Sri Lanka use brutal tactics to suppress the realities on the ground; the truth will come out with Organizations like The Oakland Institute.

The report also confirms the TGTE’s position all along is that Sri Lanka is an ethnocratic state whose intention is the ‘ethnic cleansing’ Tamils and Muslims in the island.

“Denying Tamils access to their ancestral land, changing the name of villages, replacing churches and Hindu temples by Buddhist viharas, and victory monuments dedicated to the Sinhalese domination, is a concerted effort to erase the Tamil history and culture”, says The Oakland Institute report.

“Under the guise of “development projects,” government driven Sinhalese colonization is growing within Tamil areas with the intent to change demographics and deny Tamil communities access to their land” says The Oakland Institute report. It uncovers the use of several government departments, including the Mahaweli Authority, Archaeological Department, Forest Department, and Wildlife Department, in this strategy.

The Report also noted that the Mahaweli river project launched in the 70s, created new Sinhalese settlement on the border between the Northern and Eastern Province, specifically to destroy the merger of the two provinces which have been traditional homeland of the Tamils. It observes that the “development schemes has resulted in the loss of at least one thirds of the land belonging to Tamils in the Eastern Province – and a reduction of the Tamil population from 76 percent in 1827 to just 39 percent in 2015”

The military continues to occupy vast amounts of land. Running 5-star resorts, cafes, construction companies, but also cultivating the land it occupies, the heavy presence of the army severely impacts the livelihoods of the local population,” added Anuradha Mittal.

Meanwhile, thousands of Tamils, including over 23,000 people in Jaffna alone, remain displaced 12 years after the end of the war, awaiting resettlement with no end in sight.

Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran, Prime Minister, TGTE noted the case pertains to Cambodia before the International Court of Justice where it has been argued that land grabbing constitutes a crime against humanity. He further stated that the Tamils and international Non-Governmental Organizations should bring creative actions in the international arena with teeth.

He endorsed Dr Mittal’s call to the Human Rights Council to appoint a Special Rapporteur to investigate and report on the ongoing human rights violations with special reference to land grabbing and militarization in the North East.

“We hope the Human Rights Council will rise above geopolitical consideration and will listen to the victims and well researched papers by independent policy think tanks like The Oakland Institute” Rudrakumaran said in a statement.

Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam
TGTE
+1 614-202-3377
r.thave@tgte.org
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