‘US must assert leadership role in Sri Lanka’ - House Foreign Affairs Committee

by Thusiyan
Mar 4, 2021

The US House Foreign Affairs Committee called on Washington to “reassert its leadership role on human rights and support calls for justice in Sri Lanka,” as the United Nations Human Rights Council continues to discuss a new resolution on accountability for mass atrocities.

In a series of tweets this week, the House Foreign Affairs Committee shared an op-ed piece by Ahimsa Wickrematunge, the daughter of murdered Sri Lankan journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge, as she called for the international community to ensure “murderous autocrats pay a price”.

“Freedom of the press is a fundamental principle of any democracy, as is accountability for those who commit atrocities,” tweeted The US House Foreign Affairs Committee. “Escaping justice for the murder of a journalist deeply undermines both of these principles.  The US must reassert its leadership role on human rights and support calls for justice in #SriLanka.”

The call was echoed by North Carolina State Senator and former Obama White House Staffer, Senator Wiley Nickel.

Referring to Barack Obama’s memoir, where the former US president said the United Nations failed to “prevent ethnic slaughter in places like Sri Lanka,", Wiley stated that “without strong action by the US and the international community we risk seeing past human rights abuses repeated in Sri Lanka”.

The calls come as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on members of the UN Human Rights Council to back a resolution on addressing “the lack of accountability for past atrocities in Sri Lanka”.

A draft resolution at the Human Rights Council called on the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights “to consolidate, analyse and preserve” evidence that could be used in future war crimes trials and called for enhanced “monitoring and reporting on the human rights situation in Sri Lanka”.

However, many Tamil activists expressed disappointment at the draft, with many lobbying for the mandate of a stronger international accountability mechanism that will finally see perpetrators of mass atrocities brought to justice.

It has been almost 12 years since tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were killed in a military offensive by the Sri Lankan state, which saw hospitals bombed, widespread sexual violence and executions of those attempting to surrender. Many of those that led the offensive remain in senior positions, including Sri Lanka's president, prime minister, army chief and defence secretary.

Read more: Draft UN resolution on Sri Lanka calls for war crimes evidence collection but falls short on accountability
 

Also read more on the new Biden administration in our features:

Antony Blinken and Sri Lanka – A look at the new US Secretary of State

Samantha Power, Sri Lanka and another opportunity

Wendy Sherman - A familiar face tipped for US Deputy Secretary of State

Victoria Nuland on Sri Lanka, accountability and justice
 

Also see:

What does a Biden-Harris victory mean for Sri Lanka?

Editorial - Righting wrongs

Biden-Harris Transition team and the Sri Lanka connection

Kamala Harris - the first Black and Tamil woman to become Vice President of the USA

 

 

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Amaran - Problematic propaganda

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The genre of war epic makes its grand re-entry to Tamil cinema with director Rajkumar Periasamy’s sophomore feature film, ‘Amaran.’ As is often the case with this genre, one cannot help but feel the events of the ‘true story’ onscreen have been heavily modified for easy consumption.

 

 

 

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Official trailer for film below.

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