Tamil political parties and civil society urge UN to refer Sri Lanka to the ICC

A coalition of Tamil political parties, including over 100 civil society groups, religious leaders, and academic institutions from across the North-East, have called on member states of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to take decisive action against Sri Lanka by initiating a referral to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the crime of genocide, Tamil Guardian reported on Tuesday (05).

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In a letter addressed to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and diplomatic missions, the signatories demanded that the UNHRC pass a resolution urging the UN General Assembly, Secretary-General, and Security Council to formally pursue accountability for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide committed during the island's armed conflict.

They called on member states to “initiate a process, without any further delay, that results in referring Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court.”

The letter has been supposedly signed by a broad alliance of Tamil actors, including political parties such as the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF), Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO), Democratic Tamil National Alliance (DTNA), Tamil National Green Organisation, Tamil National Council, and hundreds of civil society organisations from the North-East. Religious leaders, including bishops from Mannar and Trincomalee, also lent their names in support of the appeal.