Former UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide Adama Dieng to Deliver 7th Mullivaikal Memorial lecture: TGTE

When: May 18 (Tuesday) -- Time: New York: 2:00 PM - UK: 7:00 pm -- Watch Live: www.tgte.tv - Facebook: @mediatgte

NEW YORK, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, May 15, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ --

Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) is pleased to announce that Former UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide Adama Dieng will deliver seventh Mullivaikal Memorial lecture. His title of the speech is: Sri Lanka: 12 years on victims of armed conflict still await justice and redress.

When: May 18 (Tuesday).

Time: New York: 2:00 PM - UK: 7:00 pm - EU: 8:00 pm

Watch Live: www.tgte.tv - Facebook: @mediatgte

The Memorial Lecture is named after the location called Mullivaikal, in the island of Sri Lanka, where according to the UN Internal Review Report around 70 thousand Tamils were killed in the final six months of the war that ended in May 2009.

The genocide committed against the Tamil Nation that unfolded in Mullivaikal has left an indelible mark on the psyche of the Tamil People. Thus, we feel that we must remember and learn from these terrible events because the fight for history is also a fight for the present day and indeed a fight for our people today. The “Mullivaikal Memorial Lecture” was inaugurated in the above context.

Ramsey Clark, Former US Attorney General delivered the Inaugural Lecture on May 18, 2015 and Alan Nairn who was instrumental in the independence of East Timor delivered the 2nd Memorial Lecture. The third Memorial Lecture was delivered by Dr. Alush Gashi who played a significant role in the independence of Kosovo. Fourth was delivered by renowned international lawyer Heather Ryan. Fifth by Mr. Ladu Jada Gubek, who played a major role in South Sudan’s Referendum that eventually led to independence of that country and the sixth lecture was delivered by former East Timor President and Nobel Laureate Jose Ramos-Horta.

TGTE have declared May 18 as the Tamil National Day of Mourning of the Tamil Nation.

“NO FIRE ZONE” ESTABLISHED BY THE GOVERNMENT WAS USED BY THE SECURITY FORCES TO TRAP TAMILS AND KILL THEM:

As the war was raging, Sri Lankan Government announced that it is setting up a place called “No fire Zone” in an area called Mullivaikal and urged Tamils to assemble for safety and committed that the area designated as No Fire Zone will not be attacked.

Believing Government’s assurance Tens of thousands of Tamils assembled in this “No Fire Zone” for safety. As Tamils assembled in this area, Sri Lankan forces trapped them and continuously bombed and shelled this area. It also restricted food and medicine, resulting in several died of starvation and the injured bled to death due to lack of medicine. Sri Lankan Security forces also attacked internationally protected areas like hospitals food distribution centers.

Repeated appeals by the UN and several world leaders to stop the bombing and shelling of No Fire Zone were rejected by the Sri Lankan Government.
Members of the Sri Lankan security forces are almost exclusively from the Sinhalese community and the victims are all from the Tamil community.

UN REPORTS:

Due to the scale of the killings, then UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, established a three person committee to investigate and report on the international crimes committed during the final six months of the war.

According to the UN investigation around 40 thousand Tamils were killed in the final six months of the war and Tamil women were sexually assaulted and raped by the Sri Lankan Security forces.

UN Internal Review Report on Sri Lanka, which was established to find UN activities during the war, reported that around 70 thousand Tamils were killed during the final six months of the war.

Both UN reports classified the atrocities committed amount to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity and called for International Investigation. Independent experts believe that there are elements of these abuses that constitute an act of genocide.

TWELVE YEARS HAVE PASSED BUT NO JUSTICE:

Even though UN Human Rights Council passed several Resolutions, urging Sri Lanka to establish a Hybrid Courts consisting of international judges and prosecutors to investigate the international crimes, Sri Lankan Government refused to implement those Resolutions.

The current UN High commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has urged that Sri Lanka be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Also, four former UN High commissioners for Human Rights, nine UN experts and all the members of the UN Secretary General’s Expert Panel on Sri Lanka Jointly urged Sri Lanka be referred to International Criminal Court (ICC).

Around two million people from around the world also signed a petition calling to Refer Sri Lanka to ICC.

BACKGROUND OF THE CONFLICT:

Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka faced repeated mass killings in 1958, 1977, and 1983 and the mass killings in 2009 prompted UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to appoint a Panel of Experts to report on the scale of the killings.

According to UN internal review report on Sri Lanka, over 70 thousand Tamils were killed in six months in early 2009 and Tamil women were sexually assaulted and raped by the Sri Lankan Security forces.

International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) in February 2017 handed over details to UN of Sri Lankan Military run "Rape Camps", where Tamil women are being held as “sex slaves”.

Also, According to UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office report on April 2013, there are over 90 thousand Tamil war widows in Sri Lanka.
Thousands of Tamils disappeared, including babies and children. UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances stated in 2020 that the second highest number of enforced disappearance cases in the world is from Sri Lanka.

According to this UN report, the killings and other abuses that took place amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Independent experts believe that there are elements of these abuses that constitute an act of genocide.

Members of the Sri Lankan security forces are almost exclusively from the Sinhalese community and the victims are all from the Tamil community. A Buddhist Monk shot and killed a Sri Lankan Prime Minister 1959 for having talks with Tamils.

Tamils overwhelmingly voted in a Parliamentary election in 1977 to establish an independent and sovereign country called Tamil Eelam. This Parliamentary election was conducted by the Sri Lankan Government.

ABOUT THE TRANSNATIONAL GOVERNMENT OF TAMIL EELAM (TGTE):

The Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) is a democratically elected Government of over a million strong Tamils (from the island of Sri Lanka) living in several countries around the world.

TGTE was formed after the mass killing of Tamils by the Sri Lankan Government in 2009.

TGTE thrice held internationally supervised elections among Tamils around the world to elect 135 Members of Parliament. It has two chambers of Parliament: The House of Representatives and the Senate and also a Cabinet.

TGTE is leading a campaign to realize the political aspirations of Tamils through peaceful, democratic, and diplomatic means and its Constitution mandates that it should realize its political objectives only through peaceful means. It’s based on the principles of nationhood, homeland and self-determination.

TGTE seeks that the international community hold the perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide against the Tamil people to account. TGTE calls for a referendum to decide the political future of Tamils.

The Prime Minister of TGTE is Mr. Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran, a New York based lawyer.

Twitter: @TGTE_PMO
Email: pmo@tgte.org
Web: www.tgte-us.org

Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam
TGTE
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