{"id":88913,"date":"2019-05-16T16:25:54","date_gmt":"2019-05-16T23:25:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=88913"},"modified":"2019-05-16T16:25:54","modified_gmt":"2019-05-16T23:25:54","slug":"proclamation-of-may-18-2019-as-tamil-genocide-remembrance-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/05\/16\/proclamation-of-may-18-2019-as-tamil-genocide-remembrance-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Proclamation of May 18, 2019 as “Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day”"},"content":{"rendered":"

National joint committee. srilanka 231, Kirula Road, Colombo 5, Sri Lanka.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

16th<\/sup> May 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Mayors John Tory and Mayor Patrick Brown,<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Re:\nProclamation of May 18, 2019 as “Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

National Joint Committee on behalf\nof  all peace loving citizen of Sri Lanka wish to strongly protest against\nyour intention to proclaim 18th<\/sup> of May 2019 as the Tamil Genocide\nRemembrance day\u201d because genocide was not committed by the government of Sri Lanka\nwhen it defeated the LTTE on 19th<\/sup> of May 2009. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second mandate of the Paranagama\nPresidential Commission of Inquiry in which Right Honourable Sir Desmond de\nSilva, QC. (UK) who was Chairman of the legal Advisory Council together with\nProfessor Sir Geoffrey Nice QC. (UK), Professor David M. Crane (USA), all of\nwhom contributed specific legal opinions that collectively became a legal\nbedrock of this Report.  The final distillation of the law was that of the\nChairman of the Advisory Council working together with the members of the\nCommission.  The Advisory Council was ably supported by Mr. Rodney Dixon,\nQC. (UK\/ South Africa), Professor Michael Newton (USA) Vanderbilt University\nwho formerly served as the Senior Advisor to the United States Ambassador-at-Large\nfor War Crimes, Commander William Fenrick (Canada), Professor Nina Jorgensen of\nHarvard and The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Major General John Holmes,\nDSO, OBE, MC (UK) former Commanding Officer of the Special Air Service (SAS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second Mandate of the Paranagama\nCommission of Inquiry is quoted below with regard to genocide. https:\/\/parliament.lk\/uploads\/documents\/paperspresented\/report-of-paranagama.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Commission rejects the\nsuggestion that civilians were either targeted directly or indiscriminately by\nthe SLA as a part of an alleged genocidal plan. The term \u2018genocide\u2019 is often\nused in a political context but it is a legal concept with a very precise and\ndefinite meaning and scope of application. Genocide involves a specific intent\non the part of the perpetrator to destroy in whole or in part a national,\nethnic, racial or religious group as such. In a recent judgment, the International\nCourt of Justice rejected claims of genocide by both Croatia and Serbia making\nit plain that the crime is only made out if it is proved that the perpetrators\nacted with specific intent to destroy physically the group concerned –\n\u2018specific intent to destroy in whole or in part\u2019. The evidential bar has been\nset deliberately high for this most serious of international crimes.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Commission refers in its report\nto a US diplomatic cable dated 15 July 2009, by Ambassador Clint Williamson\nthat cleared the SLA of crimes against humanity during the Wanni offensive. Not\nonly was the SLA cleared of crimes against humanity according to Ambassador\nWilliamson during the Wanni offensive, Jacques de Maio, head of ICRC operations\nin South Asia, stated that any serious violations of IHL that may have been\ncommitted by Sri Lankan forces did not amount to genocide. The University\nTeachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) have similarly found that there is no\nevidence of genocide in the final stage of the war by the SLA.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While there may have been\nlong-standing practices of religious, ethnic and racial discrimination carried\nout by various governments towards minorities, targeting that group, even if\nfor discriminatory reasons, is not sufficient to constitute genocide. On all\nthe evidence available, this Commission rejects the suggestion that the crime\nof genocide was or may have been committed during the final phase of the war.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul Joseph Goebbels a onetime\nMinister of Propaganda is well known for leading the German nation astray for\nthe establishment of the Third Reich under Adolf Hitler. He believed that a lie\nrepeated many times over would ultimately be accepted as the truth. This theory\nof Goebbels has been effectively put into practice by the Tamil Diaspora to\nmislead the world with greater success than what was achieved even by Goebbels\nhimself. They have succeeded in making the Canadian politicians to believe that\nthe war against LTTE terrorism in Sri Lanka was nothing less than a genocidal\nwar against the Tamil population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Wars between nations or even a\ncivil war within a nation causes much destruction to life and property. While\nthe vanquished is found fault with the victor is rarely questioned when the war\ncomes to an end. However the war against terrorism in Sri Lanka where the\ngovernment was victorious is perhaps one of those exceptions. The reason for\nthis could be attributed to the involvement of vested interests that have tried\nover the years to destabilize this country for their own advantage. India was\nfirst responsible for training and equipping terrorists for a separatist war in\nSri Lanka. Though there were many separatist terrorist organizations at the\ninitial stages trained by India, the LTTE finally took the lead role and\ndesignated themselves as the sole representatives of the Tamil people. When the\nSri Lanka Army was poised to defeat the LTTE in the Jaffna Peninsula it was\nIndia that intervened to save the LTTE from defeat by bringing pressure on the\nJ.R. Jayawardena government with the introduction of the Indo Lanka Peace\nAccord.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However the Indian Peace Keeping\nForce (IPKF) that arrived to implement the Indo Lanka Peace Accord was soon\nopposed by the LTTE and in the fighting that followed many IPKF soldiers were\nkilled. The IPKF was withdrawn from Sri Lanka after the R. Premadasa government\ntook office. The R. Premadasa government commenced peace talks with the LTTE\nafter taking office but these peace talks failed and the LTTE resumed its Eelam\nwar. The funding needed to continue with this war was now received by the LTTE\nfrom the Tamil Diaspora and certain vested interests in western countries\nincluding from many NGO\u2019s. After President Premadasa was killed by the LTTE,\nthe D.B. Wijetunga government that took office was able to clear the east of\nLTTE terrorism. The strength of the LTTE was greatly depleted by the time the\nnext general election was held. It was therefore necessary for the LTTE to\nbuild up their strength and reequip if they were to continue with the Eelam\nwar. Therefore the LTTE agreed to have peace talks with the newly elected\nChandrika Kumaranatunga Government in order to find the necessary time to build\nup their strength and reequip. When the LTTE was ready to resume the Eelam war\nan attack was staged on the naval vessels in the Trincomalee dockyard. The\npeace was broken and war recommenced once more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Norwegians who arrived in the\nscene became the next negotiator to initiate a peace accord between the LTTE\nand the Ranil Wickremasinghe government. It was during this period of peace\nthat the LTTE was able to kill many government informers as well as\nintelligence officers in the Sri Lanka Army. However it was also during this\nperiod that the LTTE leader in the east Karuna Amman broke away from the LTTE.\nDespite this setback the LTTE under the leadership of Prabakaran that had\nspecialized in guerrilla warfare in the past had by now gathered enough cadres\nand equipment which included suicide boats and aircraft to fight against the\nSecurity Forces of Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The confidence that Prabakaran had in\nhis ability to fight a conventional warfare with his newly acquired strength\nled him to close the Mavil Aru sluice gates challenging the Mahinda Rajapakse\ngovernment to reopen these sluice gates if possible. The government took up\nthis challenge and named it the humanitarian operation to provide irrigation\nwater to over 30000 cultivators whose fields had gone dry due to the closer of\nthe sluice gates. This humanitarian operation that commenced at Mavil Aru first\nsucceeded in defeating the LTTE in the east and was next extended to the north\nand finally ended at Nanthikadal with the total defeat of the LTTE. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final stage of the war against\nthe LTTE was designated as a humanitarian operation. It would however be more\nappropriate to call thirty year old war against LTTE terrorism perhaps the most\nhumanitarian war fought in the history of world warfare.  There are at\nleast four very good reasons if not more for arriving at such a conclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.    \nNever in the history of\nworld warfare has a government of any country provided food for thirty long\nyears to people living in a territory that was controlled by the enemy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2.    \nNever in the history of\nworld warfare has a government of any country provided the necessary funds to\nmaintain the local government administration for thirty long years in an area\nthat was controlled by the enemy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3.    \nNever in the history of\nworld warfare has a government of any country provided the necessary funds\nduring thirty long years for health services, which included maintenance of\nhospitals, providing these hospitals with the necessary drugs and payments to\ndoctors and staff in an area that was controlled by the enemy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4.    \n Never in the\nhistory of world warfare has a government of any country provided the necessary\nfunds during thirty long years for school education which included not only\nproviding books and school uniforms to children but also the payment of\nsalaries to all school teachers in an area that was controlled by the enemy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government of Sri Lanka did all\nthis and more during their war against LTTE terrorism. The LTTE that was\nfighting against the government was not burdened with finding food for the\npopulation under their control or in maintaining the local government\nadministration in the area under their control. The food aid provided by the\ngovernment was even used to feed the LTTE cadres fighting against government\nSecurity Forces. The government hospitals providing health services were\navailable for the treatment of LTTE carders who were injured during battle\nagainst the Security Forces. The LTTE did not have to worry about the education\nof children in the area they controlled and would only visit schools to recruit\nchild soldiers when the need arose. For thirty long years Prabakaran had all\nthese privileges in his Eelam war against the Sri Lanka government. Are these\nreasons not adequate to identify the war against terrorism in Sri Lanka as the\nmost humanitarian war fought in the world history of warfare?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was America that brought\nresolution 30\/1 against Sri Lanka at the last UNHRC sessions in Geneva. Let us consider\nthe American civil war from 1861 to 1865. The total number of deaths in four\nyears of the American civil war amounted to approximately 625000, which work\nout to about 599 deaths per day. The civil war in Sri Lanka from about 1979 to\n2009 resulted in a total of approximately 100000 deaths in thirty years of\nconflict, which amounts to approximately nine deaths per day. It is indeed\nunfortunate that America failed to compare the death count in its own civil war\nwith that of the Sri Lanka civil war. Could a country like America have been\nmisled based on Goebbels theory of lies churned out by the Tamil Diaspora? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

America should have also looked at\nthe ground realities before pointing a finger at Sri Lanka. There were 300,000\ninternally displaced people when the war ended. The government had to initially\nfind food and lodging for these internally displaced people in welfare centers.\nWithin the resources available the government has done a very commendable job\nin resettling these internally displaced people. Only a very few now remain to\nbe resettled and they are either those who do not want to leave the welfare\ncenters or are those who reside in areas that have not been cleared of land\nmines. The government has spent 25% of the national reconstruction and\ndevelopment budget for a national population of just 5% living in the affected\nareas. America should have compared this with rehabilitation effort they have\nimplemented for the victims of the Katrina hurricane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Demands have also been made by\ncertain NGO\u2019s for the complete removal of the military presence from the north\nand the east. It is a well-known fact that no development can take place sans\nsecurity. The presence of allied forces for a long time after the Second World\nWar in Germany and Japan is perhaps the best example for the need of military\npresence for development activity. Is the demand for the removal of military\npresence another effort to recommence separatist activities in the north and\neast for the division of Sri Lanka?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are arbitrary figures being\nmentioned with regard to the amount of deaths that occurred during the last\nmonths of the war against LTTE terrorism in Sri Lanka. The government of Sri\nLanka conducted a very through census using Tamil enumerators in the former\nconflict area and has arrived at a figure of approximately 7000 deaths during\nthe last few months of the war. These civilians killed during the last few\nmonths of the confrontation also include the LTTE cadres killed as well as the\ncivilians killed by the LTTE.  The security forces in the final stages of\nthe confrontation refrained from using heavy weapons as much as possible to\navoid civilian deaths and did so only to neutralize LTTE gun positions. This\nendeavour in trying to save civilian lives resulted in the death of 9000\nsecurity forces personnel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The LTTE on the other hand formed a\nhuman shield using the civilian population to protect their cadres from the\nadvancing formations of the Security Forces. Any civilian trying to escape from\nthis human shield to the government held territory was shot dead by the LTTE.\nAll opportunities given by the government for civilians to move out of the\nconflict area was effectively blocked by the LTTE. Even bags of food such as\nrice sent by the government to feed the civilian population were used by the\nLTTE to strengthen their bunkers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The BBC Channel 4 produced several\ndocumentary films on the subject of killing fields in Sri Lanka. These\ndocumentary films totally distorted the truth and were largely responsible for\nmisleading the international community with regard to the war on terror in Sri\nLanka. Though it cannot be established with certainty that Channel 4 has been\nfunded by the Tamil Diaspora to produce these films, the Channel 4 TV\u2019s\nDirector of Diversity the well-known British journalist Stuart Cosgrove is\nmarried to a Sri Lankan born Tamil Shirani Sabaratnam from Vaddukoddi, Jaffna.\nIn 2010 Stuart Cosgrove as a qualifying spouse voted for the creation of Eelam\nat a referendum organized by expatriate Tamils.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a school of thought fuelled\nby probably NGO\u2019s and vested interests who are supporting the division of this\ncountry that victory celebrations in the month of May to commemorate the defeat\nof LTTE terrorism is counterproductive to reconciliation. The defeat of LTTE\nterrorism was long awaited by the citizen be they Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim or\nBurgher and when it finally happened on the 19th<\/sup> of May 2009 people\nrejoiced like never before. It was not very different to the rejoicing of the\nAmerican people when the death of Bin Laden was announced. Therefore the 19th<\/sup>\nof May 2009 that saw the end of LTTE terrorism which brought so much death and\ndestruction to Sri Lanka for three decades must never be forgotten. It is also\na special day on which the whole country should pay tribute to the war heroes\nwho sacrificed their life and limb to protect and preserve the unity and\nterritorial integrity of our nation for posterity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking all the facts mentioned above\ninto consideration please note that the truth is stranger than fiction.\nTherefore since no genocide was committed against the Tamil population in Sri\nLanka refrain from proclaiming 18th<\/sup> of May 2019 as the Tamil\nGenocide Remembrance day\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yours Faithfully,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anil\nAmarasekera\/-<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lt Col. A.S.Amarasekera (Retd)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Co-President National Joint\nCommittee,<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

National joint committee. srilanka 231, Kirula Road, Colombo 5, Sri Lanka.\u00a0 16th May 2019 Dear Mayors John Tory and Mayor Patrick Brown, Re: Proclamation of May 18, 2019 as “Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day” National Joint Committee on behalf of  all peace loving citizen of Sri Lanka wish to strongly protest against your intention to proclaim […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88913"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88913\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}