“The International Community has deceived the genocide affected Tamils on delivering international investigations,” said Ananthi Sasitharan, a councillor of the Northern Provincial Council, at a press conference held in Jaffna on Thursday. “The draft resolution being circulated in Geneva has failed to satisfy even the minimum expectations. It has totally disregarded the repeated requests from Tamils to the IC to deliver international investigations. Furthermore, it is in complete contrast to the impressions given to the Tamils by the international community in recent times,” she told the press. Ms Ananthi Sasistharan also blamed TNA national list parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran for having instructed her to be silent at a crucial meeting with the representatives of 18 countries during her recent visit to Geneva.
“There was no restriction placed on me before I left the island. In fact, I was encouraged by the ITAK leaders and the Chief Minister of the NPC to accompany the ITAK delegation to Geneva,” Ms. Ananthi told the reporters at Jaffna Press Club.
“However, after a couple of meetings at Geneva, I was instructed by Mr Sumanthiran — especially before a crucial meeting with the representatives of 18 countries — that I should refrain from addressing the delegates directly. He justified his stand by telling me that there was a perception among the international players that I was linked to the Tigers in the past and advised me to remain silent,” she said.
Mr Sumanthiran was only urging support from the delegates to the resolution to be tabled by the USA. The need for investigating war crimes was mentioned, but he didn’t demand an international investigation, she said adding that there was no mention of genocide despite a resolution was passed in the NPC demanding international investigations on the situation equivalent to genocide.
The reporters were repeatedly asking her to clarify whether Mr Sumanthiran demanded an international investigation or not.
However, Mr Sumanthiran took up the issues of land grab, the conduct of SL Defence Secretary Gotahaya Rajapaksa in the militarisaton and the question on what happened to the surrendees and the missing people, Ananthi told the reporters.
“Some enlightened political thinkers have been warning us from the beginning that the resolution to be placed in Geneva would not be demanding an international investigation. However, we continued to believe that an international investigation would come. Now, we are disappointed,” she told the reporters.
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