Leader of UK’s Liberal Democratic Party Sir Ed Davey has renewed a call for an independent international investigation into war crimes and genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka.
He said his party has been working since 2008 with the Tamil community in the UK and across the world, UN Human Rights Council and elsewhere to get an international independent investigation in this regard.
He was speaking at a fringe event at the party’s spring conference in York on March 18.
Tamil Friends of Liberal Democrats was formed in 2008 with the purpose of introducing liberal values within the Tamil community and to represent Tamils’ voice within the party.
There was a 20 minute video presentation titled “continuing cycle of violence and genocide in Sri Lanka.”
Sir Davey also said that his party will put pressure on the UK government to stop trade preferences, banning individuals who have committed war crimes coming into the country, targeted sanctions and issue arrest warrants.
Keynote speaker, MP Sarah Olney, said the Sri Lankan state’s mismanagement of economy has caused hardships to all Sri Lankans.
Tamil people are hit by the economic hardships in addition to the ongoing state’s oppression and violation of their human rights, she said.
Olney called for the application of Magnitsky style sanctions against the perpetrators in the UK Parliament.
She also raised alarm on Sri Lanka’s bloated military spending to the attention of the UK government.
Being the UK government a key stakeholder in the IMF, the MP insisted on imposing conditionality for any financial assistance that may be granted.
The chairman of the Tamil Friends of Liberal Democrats said he would like the party to pass a resolution recognising ‘what hitherto happened and what is still happening in Sri Lanka’ to the Tamil people is nothing other than Tamil genocide.
The motive is to make Sri Lanka a mono-linguistic, mono-religious (Buddhist) country and include that in the party manifesto for the general election, he charged.
