The Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) has welcomed the United Nations’ renewed criticism of Sri Lanka’s failure to deliver justice and reform for the Tamil community, while accusing the government of neglecting key ethnic issues despite nearly two years in office.
The party’s response followed a statement delivered by UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Awa Dabo at the opening session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), in which she flagged the absence of progress on accountability in Sri Lanka.
ITAK General Secretary M. A. Sumanthiran said the party was disappointed that meaningful steps had not been taken to resolve longstanding grievances affecting Tamils.
He said this lack of action stood in contrast to the government’s own election pledges and had left core Tamil concerns unresolved for close to two years.
Sumanthiran said ITAK welcomed the written update issued by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, noting that it had specifically drawn attention to unresolved matters affecting the Tamil people.
Among these, he cited the continued military occupation of Tamil-owned lands, unresolved cases of enforced disappearances, the failure to release political prisoners and the absence of a credible investigation into the Chemmani mass grave.
He also noted that the Deputy High Commissioner had also raised concern over the prolonged failure to hold Provincial Council elections, a delay ITAK regards as part of the broader pattern of political neglect towards the Tamil community.
Sumanthiran acknowledged the government’s efforts to tackle bribery, corruption and drug-related underworld activity, describing these as positive steps.
However, he said such progress could not offset what he called the government’s deep failure to act on issues central to Tamil political life.
He called on the government to honour the commitments made during its election campaign, in particular its promise to introduce a new constitution, and said any constitutional reform process must reflect what he termed the long-held aspirations of the Tamil people.
(Excerpt- The Leader)
