Photograph: Green Left, Chris Slee
Dozens of Tamils rallied outside the State Library in Melbourne on Saturday to demanding Sri Lanka is referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for human rights violations against Tamils.
These rallies have been staged across Australia, in cities such as Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth, coinciding with the 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council. A resolution on accountabilty for mass atrocities has been tabled at the Council and will be voted on by member states this month.
The Melbourne rally featured speakers including Barathan Vidhapathy from the Tamil Refugee Council, Apsara Sabaratnam from the Greens, Sue Bull from Socialist Alliance, Nalliah Suriyakumaran from the Darebin Ethnic Communities Council and Shankar Kasynathan who expressed their support alongside protestors.
The speakers further elaborated their discontent with the Australian government’s mistreatment of Tamil asylum speakers who have spent years in detention or otherwise suffered extreme poverty or uncertainty regarding their residential status when released into the community.
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Similar protests have been staged around the world and across the North-East, demanding an international accountability mechanism to deal with charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
