International mechanism - ITAK non-committal

by P. Krishnaswamy

While three constituents of the four-party Tamil National Alliance (TNA) - the EPRLF, PLOTE and TELO - are firm on their stance that the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) should push for an international mechanism on its report on Sri Lanka's alleged war crimes, Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kadchy (ITAK), the main party of the alliance has not expressed its stand on the issue.

TELO leader Selvam Adaickalanathan representing the Vanni constituency and EPRLF leader and former Jaffna MP Suresh Premachandran, who was not returned to parliament at the August 17 elections, admitted to the Sunday Observer that they were attending the UNHCR sessions beginning tomorrow, September 14 (Monday), to persuade member nations to support an international mechanism of accountability. Sources close to the PLOTE said that party supporters among the Tamil diaspora community would attend the sessions on behalf of its leader D.Sitharthan to push for an international mechanism. The three leaders have already forwarded a joint representation to the UNHRC insisting on an international mechanism to probe the alleged war crimes , according to reports. Leader of the Tamil

National People's Front (TNPF) Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam who contested the August 17 parliamentary elections unsuccessfully in Jaffna is another Tamil leader who will attend the Geneva sessions, according reports.

It is for that reason that they are insisting on an international mechanism to conduct the probe, he said.

The Northern Provincial Council (NPC) representing the TNA also stands firm on an international mechanism for probes on purported war crimes and passed two resolutions at the start of this month - one on purported genocide of Tamils and the other calling for an international mechanism to probe 'crimes against humanity'.

International mechanism

The resolutions were proposed by Chief Minister (CM) C.V.Wigneswaran who was an ITAK candidate at the September 2013 NPC polls. ITAK leader and Jaffna parliamentarian Mavai Senadhirajah proposed his name as chief ministerial candidate worked hard for his victory together with the other TNA constituents.

After the resolutions were adopted unanimously CM Wigneswaran had handed over copies of the resolutions to M.K.Sivajilingam , a NPC member representing the TELO, to be taken to UNHRC sessions and dissemination among delegates of 47 member nations attending the sessions. The copies of the resolutions were handed over with due endorsement by the CM, according to reports.

Sivajiligam would be accompanied to Geneva by NPC member Ananthi Saseetharan , a former ITAK member recently suspended from party membership. She told the Sunday Observer that the two of them were facing many hurdles in attending the UNHRC sessions even on a personal capacity.

Chairman of the NPC C.V.K.Sivagnanam told the Sunday Observer that the Tamils do not have confidence in a domestic mechanism because there is neither a legal mechanism nor adequate legal arrangements to interrogate personnel belonging to the government security forces on crimes against humanity. The NPC members going to Geneva will only go in their personal capacity and not on behalf of the council since it was ruled out by party hierarchy, according to informed sources.

Meanwhile, Sivajilingam and Ananthi Saseetharan Thursday morning started a one week protest march from Kilinochchi, near the Sri Kandaswamy Hindu temple, set off to the Sangilyan Park in Nallur, Jaffna demanding an international mechanism to probe purported war crimes and for creating awareness among the people. Members of local government bodies and party supporters joined the march, Ananthi Saseetharan told the Sunday Observer.

Protest march

Those who joined the protest march also launched a signature during the course of the march while many academics and institutions, including the Jaffna university, also launched similar signature campaigns in support the demand for an international mechanism to probe the alleged war crimes.

Sivajilingham told the Sunday Observer that the protest march and the awareness campaign would be concluded before his departure to Geneva on the 17th of this month.

The British Tamil Forum (BTF) and the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) which claim to represents many associations of Tamil diaspora communities also insist on an international mechanism while the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) had stated that an opportunity should be offered to the present Sri Lankan government to conduct the probes locally, according to informed sources.

Meanwhile, TNA spokesman M.A.Sumanthiran MP who represents the ITAK from the Jaffna constituency has stated that the TNA supports a domestic mechanism with international participation. Whether or not the TNA would send a delegation to Geneva would very much depend on the nature of the report of the UNHRC to be released end of September and that is the stance of the TNA, he has stated.

On release of the UNHRC report, the party would take a decision on whether or not to send a delegation to the UNHRC sessions, he has stated. In spite of repeated efforts, neither Sumanthiran nor party leader R.Sampanthan were available for their comments on whether they will send a delegation to Geneva and whether they will hold consultations with the government delegation headed by Foreign Affairs Minister Mangala Samaraweera on the matter. However, sources within the party told the Sunday Observer on conditions of anonymity that the TNA has already dispatched a delegation of senior party lawyers to study the situation and provide a feed back so that party leadership would decide on sending a delegation to Geneva.

The delegation would probably counter the lobbying of the TNA constituents and other NPC members at the Geneva UNHRC sessions, informed sources said.

TNA leader and the incumbent Opposition leader R.Sampanthan was quoted as saying that the Tamil people were fully justified in demanding an international mechanism. He had cited two instances where reports on killings were swept under the carpet by the former government.

One was the inquiry conducted on the killing of 17 NGO workers in Muttur and the other was the killing of 5 students in Trincomalee . International teams involved in conducting the inquiries quit because the then government was not supporting the inquiry process, Sampanthan had said.