On 1 December 2023, the Tamil Rights Group (TRG) and its legal team engaged in in-person discussions with the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands, in furtherance of TRG's ICC Communication under Article 15 of the Rome Statute which it submitted in November 2021.
The Article 15 ICC Communication was a collaborative effort between the TRG and the International Tamil Refugee Assistance Network (I-TRAN) and focused on crimes against humanity of deportation and persecution of Tamils, within the territories of state parties to the ICC. The meeting between the Canada-based TRG, its international legal advisers, including David Matas, Sarah Teich, Hannah Taylor, and Michael Polak, and the OTP facilitated a comprehensive discussion of jurisdictional legal issues, laying the groundwork for an additional follow-up submission currently in preparation.
The Article 15 Communication focuses particularly on crimes committed by the Sri Lankan government and armed forces during the final phase of the protracted armed struggle between the state and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), widely referred to as the 'Mullivaikkal Massacre'. The Communciation alleges that there is 'compelling evidence that various actors, including members of the Sri Lankan government and armed forces, committed the crimes against humanity of persecution and deportation through coercive acts'. It further states that at least part of the crimes occurred on the territories of states parties, including Canada, Australia, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland, as these are where Tamils sought refuge as a resultt of the crimes against humanity by the Sri Lankan state and armed forces. Particular crimes stated within the Article 15 Communication include mass arbitrary killings by way of the indiscriminate shelling targeting civilians in the government-declared 'No-Fire Zones' (NFZs), widespread confiscation of Tamil peoples' lands by Sri Lankan military forces, mass and prolonged arbitrary detention of Tamil civilians in the military-run internally displaced persons (IDP) camps and detention centres, and widespread sexual violence of detainees.
Similar legal submissions were made in a separate Article 15 Communication to the ICC by the Global Rights Compliance LLP on behalf of 200 Tamil victims in the United Kingdom in October 2021.
Read more here: Submission filed with International Criminal Court to investigate Sri Lanka and
In its press release, TRG reiterated the Tamil diasporas' commitment to using all legal avenues to ensure accountability and justice for the serious international crimes perpetrated by the Sri Lankan state against Tamils. The ongoing dialogue between the Tamil diaspora group and the OTP aims to strengthen the legal case presented.
Read TRG's press release here.
