Following is the email sent to the Prime Minister's office today with the petition. Thanks to those who signed the petition and please continue to ask your friends to support this petition. We will continue to jointly send requests to the PMO office to take tangible action.
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Office of the Prime Minister
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Global Affairs Canada
February 17, 2021
Upcoming 46th UN Human Rights Council Session and Justice for Sri Lanka’s Genocide against Tamils
Dear The Right Honorable Justin Trudeau and Honorable Minister Marc Garneau,
The Canadian Tamil Community would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Honourable Minister Marc Garneau for his appointment as the new Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The following is an open letter addressed to the Canadian Government with respect to the demand for justice for Sri Lanka's Genocide against the Tamils. In the past, the Tamil Community has written several letters concerning the subject matter. Furthermore, recently, we have also submitted a petition. The petition has already been signed by thousands of Canadian citizens and is enclosed with this letter.
Recently, the elected representatives of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka, leaders of Tamil national political parties, members of the Tamil victim communities, and Tamil civil society organizations urged the UN Human Rights Council to refer Sri Lanka to International Criminal Court (ICC) and any other appropriate and effective international accountability mechanisms to inquire into the crime of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. This letter also has been endorsed by the diaspora of Tamil community organizations.
Therefore, as Canadian citizens and victims of the Sri Lankan Tamil Genocide, we respectfully demand that the Canadian government stands for justice and humanity at the 46th United Nations Human Rights Council Session and act in favor of referring the Sri Lankan Government to the ICC.
The Court's founding treaty, called the Rome Statute, grants the ICC jurisdiction over four main crimes: (1) Crime of Genocide; (2) Crimes against humanity; (3) War Crimes (4) Crime of Aggression.
The Sri Lankan Government is guilty of all 4 of these crimes. Moreover, recent events of the destruction of monuments, cultural sites, government-initiated and implemented schemes to alter the demography of Tamil lands in Sri Lanka demonstrates their genocidal intentions will continue unhinged if timely international intervention is not taken.
Actions needed to bring Justice to Eelam Tamils:
The Tamil community strongly believes that there is no prospect for accountability in Sri Lanka by way of its domestic mechanisms or through hybrid mechanisms.
Hence, we respectfully demand the Canadian Government:
To support or bring a resolution at UNHRC to refer Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court in this 46th session in March 2021.
To recognize the Tamil Genocide as requested by the petition (please refer to the link below for the petition).
In line with Canadian values, we hope that the Canadian Government will stand with the victims of genocide and act against perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.
Thank you.
Tamil Genocide Memorial, a registered non-profit organization in Canada www.tamilgenocide.com
Ottawa Tamil Association, a registered non-profit organization in Canada
Links to Related Materials:
“Sri Lanka’s Genocide Against Tamils (2015). Resolution Unanimously Adopted by The Northern Provincial Council on February 10, 2015”
https://ottawatamilassociation.ca/archive/2018/Sri%20LankasGenocideAgainstTamils_%20Booklet.pdf
“Call for decisive action at the 46th Session of the UNHRC All Tamil Parties from Eelam” https://archive.org/details/final-final-draft-thai-pongal-day
“Liberal Party Outlines Three Pillars of Canada’s Engagement on Sri Lanka” https://archive.org/details/liberal-platform-for-tamil-three-pillar-1
“Second International Conference on Tamil Nationhood and Genocide in Sri Lanka – Ottawa 2018 – Resolutions “ https://tamilconferences.org/media/press-releases/second-itc-resolutions/
https://www.justsecurity.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Sri-Lanka-OHCHR-Report-12-Jan-2021.pdf