Tamil Genocide Day being marked in 2019.
American Tamil groups and advocacy organisations welcomed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s move to recognise the violence perpetrated against the Rohingya people by Myanmar as a genocide and remained hopeful that this may pave the way for greater international accountability for such crimes, including against Tamils.
“The US declaration is an important milestone in protecting the Rohingya from a virulent form of Buddhist ethno-nationalism that has driven the genocide in Myanmar,” said Archana Ravichandradeva, Executive Director at People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL).
“This recognition of genocide sets an important precedent for the international community to reassess other recent atrocities driven by similar forms of ethnonationalism and how genocide recognition can advance meaningful accountability for victim-survivor communities. For example, it is no coincidence that Sri Lanka became the first country to diplomatically recognise Myanmar's junta following the military coup.”
“We welcome the US recognition of genocide in Myanmar and commend the various civil society organizations who continue to strive for justice and accountability for the Rohingya,” she added.
“We hope that this will promote international accountability for other genocides as well, including genocide committed against the Tamil people by the Sri Lankan state.”
The move marks only the eight time that the US has concluded that genocide has been committed.
Anandarajah Ponnambalam, USTAG president, told the Tamil Guardian that Tamil Americans were “grateful” that such a conclusion was reached.
“We trust that this designation will lead to concrete action to protect Rohingya wherever they find themselves now, and to provide accountability for past atrocities,” Ponnambalam added.
“I’d like to highlight that the 2015 Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ Investigation on Sri Lanka found ‘systematic’ atrocities committed against the Tamil people based on their ethnicity by the Sri Lankan military, particularly focusing on the last months of the war in 2009 when the Catholic Bishop of Mannar testified that 146,769 Tamil civilians need to be accounted for,” they continued.
“We call on the US to act on the genocide against the Tamils and to push for transitional justice, including support for the current OHCHR’s special mechanism for evidence collection and for strong action on accountability for atrocity crimes at the international level.”
Dr. S. Tham, Secretary of the Tamil Americans United PAC, also welcomed the move by the US, adding that Tamil Americans “have also been urging the Biden Administration to recognize 2009 Mullivaikkal Massacre of Tamils as a genocide”.
“Tamils in Sri Lanka and Diaspora have given overwhelming evidence to UN agencies and many other international human rights agencies to prove that what happened to Tamils is Genocide,” Tham added.
“In the US Congress a resolution H. Res 413 has been introduced requesting the Biden administration to support an independent international investigation. Tamil Americans and Tamils around the world have been waiting for justice since 2009 and are looking up to America to deliver justice. We hope that President Biden will help Tamils in their search for Justice and Accountability.”
