Tamil diaspora orgs call for ‘decisive action’ at Sri Lanka’s UPR

Tamil diaspora organisations have condemned Sri Lanka’s “abysmal lack of progress” in implementing recommendations made by the UN’s Universal Periodic Review process in 2008, and demanded "decisive action".

In a joint statement released on Thursday, ahead of Sri Lanka's UPR, British Tamils Forum, Canadian Tamil Congress and the United States Political Action Council, said that the ground reality is one of “ongoing militarisation, enforced disappearances, torture, violence against women and a lack of independence of
media and human rights institutions
”.

Speaking on behalf of the three organisations, Dr Yaso Natkunam said,

“Sri Lanka has failed miserably in protecting the human rights of its citizens, despite its claims of moving forward,”

“The universality of human rights is undermined when a country like Sri Lanka tramples on the rights of its citizens, absolves itself of its responsibilities, and then deliberately misleads the international community on its offences,”

See full statement here.

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