under Agenda Item on the Right of Peoples to Self Determination and its application to peoples under colonial or alien domination or foreign occupation, 24 March, 1999
Mr.Chairman, Liberation would like to request the Commission to address the many long running disputes around the world concerning issues of self-determination. These disputes have led to gross violations of human rights by States and in some cases by parties opposed to it. However it remains our concern that by stifling the debate on self-determination and closing the opportunities to express and campaign on this, the international community is merely encouraging States to justify their oppression. Most disputes concerning self-determination concern regions which were historically distinct but have been forced into the current crisis by the intervention of colonisation. Unfortunately there are no venues for peaceful resolution of such disputes to enable co-existence through peaceful settlements of concerns.
For instance the Tamils in Sri Lanka have an ancient heritage, a vibrant culture, a living language tracing, its origins to 5000 years and a political consciousness developed over their long history. For all intent and purposes the Tamils constitute a people who can call upon article 1 of ICCPR for the right to self-determination. However the Sri Lankan government has failed to acknowledge this right and has refused to enter into any reasonable dialogue to address the concerns of the Tamils let alone settle the dispute. The Sri Lankan government further has obstructed any peaceful opportunities for the Tamil people to campaign for greater self-determination.
Instead the government of Sri Lanka has waged a war against the Tamil people to deprive them of this right. The government's latest military action in Tamil regions is named 'Rana Gosha' meaning 'battle cry' ! The magnitude of these actions reflect in the number of deaths and displacements of civilians, the destruction of infrastructure of Tamil homeland and the violations of the principal articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the agencies of the Sri Lankan state. These are well documented in the United Nations.
The Sri Lankan government has failed to resolve the matter through political means and continues to prefer a 'military' solution. It needs international participation to mediate and end this continuing national conflict. We call upon the Sri Lankan government to withdraw its armed forces from Tamil territory in the North and East of the island and further call upon both parties to end the armed conflict and secure a political settlement by recognising the right of Tamil people to campaign on the principle of the right of self-determination...
