TRG meets with preliminary examinations team of the ICC as a follow up to its Article 15 Communication on Sri Lanka
MARKHAM, ONTARIO, CANADA, December 18, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ — On November 9, 2021, Tamil Rights Group (TRG), in collaboration with the International Tamil Refugee Assistance Network (I-TRAN), submitted a Communication under Article 15 of the Rome Statute to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), requesting a preliminary examination into crimes against humanity of deportation and persecution committed against Eelam Tamils within the territories of state parties to the ICC.
Since the initial submission, TRG and its legal advisors, including David Matas, Sarah Teich, Hannah Taylor, and Michael Polak, for this matter have been in discussions with the Office of the Prosecutor about its submission and the legal arguments contained therein. On December 1, 2023, TRG met in person with the preliminary examinations team of the Office of the Prosecutor in the Hague, Netherlands for a comprehensive discussion of the jurisdictional legal issues that will be contained in an additional follow up submission that is currently being prepared.
There is mounting evidence that the Eelam Tamil population in Sri Lanka were subjected to atrocities that amounted to crimes against humanity and war crimes, particularly in the final stages of the protracted civil war that ended in 2009. Recognizing that the ongoing actions of the Sri Lankan state have proven its unwillingness to investigate and prosecute such crimes within domestic judicial institutions, the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner, in January 2021, called for member states to become involved in working to end the impunity surrounding the Sri Lankan armed conflict, both by utilizing the principle of universal jurisdiction to initiate prosecutions in foreign domestic courts, and by taking steps toward seeking justice at the international level, including at the ICC.
Tamil Rights Group, along with many sections of the Tamil diaspora, is committed to pursuing all available legal avenues to hold the Sri Lankan state and individual perpetrators accountable for their crimes against the Eelam Tamil people. It is only on the basis of truth, justice, and accountability can any sincere efforts for social reconciliation, economic advancement, and political transformation can be meaningfully realized.
Katpana Nagendra
Tamil Rights Group
+1 778-870-5824
[email protected]
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