PRESS STATEMENT BY
MALAYSIAN PARLIAMENT CAUCUS ON SRI LANKA dated 27.3.2014
Members of the Caucus wish to inform the press and public that yesterday we have issued
letters to the member states of the United Nations Human Rights Council ( UNHRC
), currently in session in Geneva, Switzerland, calling upon them to support a
resolution on Sri Lanka which will be voted on by the UNHRC tomorrow Friday 28th
March 2014.
We have sent
the letter to the following countries:
Algeria,
Argentina, Austria, Brazil
Chile, China,
Cuba, Chez Republic,
France,
Germany, India, Indonesia,
Ireland,
Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya,
Kuwait,
Mexico, Morocco, Namibia, Pakistan,
Peru,
Philippines, Republic of Korea, Romania,
Russian
Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa,
United Arab
Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America,
Venezuela,
Vietnam
A copy of the
said letter which is self explanatory is attached herewith.
The members
of the Malaysian Parliament Caucus on Sri Lanka are as follows:
Chairman:
Johari bin Abdul
Secretary:
Kasthuri Patto
Members:
Sivarasa Rasiah (SUBANG) Kulasegaran (IPOH BARAT) V Sivakumar (BATU GAJAH)
Dr Siti Mariah (KOTA RAJA)
Hanipa Maidin (SEPANG) Charles Santiago (KLANG)
Kamaruddin Jaffar (TUMPAT)
Takiyuddin Hassan (KOTA BAHRU)
Dr Nik Mazian (PASIR
PUTEH) Dr Jeyakumar (Sg SIPUT)
Laksamana Mohd Imran (LUMUT) Gooi
Hsiao Leung (ALOR SETAR)
Gobind Singh (PUCHONG) Manivanan
(KAPAR) Raja Kamarul (K TERENGGANU)
Jimmy Wong (KOTA KINABALU) Er Tech
Hwa (BAKRI) Md Idris Jusi (BATU PAHAT)
Alice Lau (LANANG) Azman Ismail
(KUALA KEDAH)
Your
Excellency
Ambassador
of
Member
of the 25th Session of the UNHR Council 23 March 2014
Dear
Excellency,
INVESTIGATING HUMAN RIGHTS
VIOLATIONS IN SRI LANKA
Greetings from Malaysia,
The undersigned are all members of the Malaysian Parliament and
are also members of the Caucus on Sri Lanka in the Malaysian House of
Representatives (Dewan Rakyat).
The Caucus was set up about two years ago and has been monitoring
the situation in Sri Lanka. We observe that Sri Lanka has failed to implement
the resolutions from their own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission,
including the two resolutions passed by the UNHR Council in March 2012 and in
2013. We are also aware that a third resolution for an independent
international investigation is expected to be voted on this coming Friday 28th
March 2014 at the UNHRC 25th Session in Geneva.
We note with much regret and concern that serious violations of
international law, widespread allegations of extra-judicial killings, sexual
violence, enforced disappearances, continued militarization of the North East
of Sri Lanka, land grabbing, failure to reach political solution, torture and
violations of freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly all
continue to be inflicted against Tamils particularly in the north and north
east Sri Lanka. All these contravene the recommendations of both the UNHRC
resolutions.
We are informed that the plights of the Tamils are getting from
bad to worse. People are living in fear of rape, torture, abduction and many
are leaving by boat as refugees. Even elected Tamil representatives are
harassed.
The international community has the
right, and carries also the responsibility, to establish responsibility for the
war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Mullaivakkal War of May
2009, resulting in huge numbers of widows, orphans, tens of thousands still
unaccounted for, and investigate why still tens of thousands are prevented from
returning to their own homes and lands. In this context, credible allegations
of a planned genocide of the Tamil community by the government of Sri Lanka
persist and need investigation and clarification.
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INVESTIGATING HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN SRI LANKA
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In the light of the above, we call upon
your government as a member of the UNHRC to support the UNHRC resolution on Sri
Lanka to be voted on Friday 28th March 2014 which calls for,
inter alia, a comprehensive independent
investigation into serious violations and abuses of human rights and related
crimes in Sri Lanka during the period covered by the Lessons Learnt and
Reconciliation Commission with a view to establishing the facts and ensuring
accountability for such crimes and avoiding impunity.
Yours sincerely,
...............................................
Kasthuri Patto
Secretary
Caucus on Sri Lanka
Parliament of Malaysia
