Amnesty International India has launched its ‘Justice in Sri Lanka’ campaign, urging the government of India to acknowledge and address the human rights situation in Sri Lanka.
Maintaining goodwill and supply routes with India is of immense importance to the economy of Sri Lanka. The neighbouring countries enjoy the benefits of a successful free trade agreement, and Indian capital flow to Sri Lanka promises to boost employment and economic opportunities in the recovering nation.
Throughout and since the war, India has tacitly supported the Sri Lankan government on all fronts, having distanced itself from the LTTE separatists, and congratulated Sri Lanka on its response to this ‘terrorist’ movement. India seemingly took an about turn in its stance on the matter in March this year, when it supported an American sponsored resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council that condemned the government of Sri Lanka for failing to comply with their obligations to international human rights, with reference to the report produced by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission of Sri Lanka.
Amnesty India has recently re-launched operations from Bangalore. Country director Ananthapadmanabhan Guruswamy hopes that the organisation’s presence will encourage India “to emerge as a genuine human rights champion at the global stage.” Despite the existence of widespread human rights violations across the subcontinent, Guruswamy remains optimistic that “people in India have been and will continue to stand up for what is right, and bring about positive change.” India is home to a population of 60 million Tamils and the Indian government is uniquely poised to make an effective stand against a regime that would continue discriminate against its sizable Tamil community.
Three years after the end of its devastating armed conflict, Sri Lanka is still home to mass human rights abuses. Its police and armed forces continue to violate the rights of Sri Lankans, whilst the government has failed to address allegations of war crimes committed on both sides of the bloody civil war, as well as breaking promises to promote reconciliation and recovery for victims of the conflict. Amnesty International India is promoting a new type of campaign, with an aim to harness people power in the country to force the government’s hand into taking real action against the repressive regime of a neighbouring state.
You can support the campaign by signing this petition, one way to do so is by giving a missed call to (+91) 080 6700 6666.
You can view AI India’s facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/AIIndia
You can also tweet about the campaign, AI India are promoting the hashtag: #JusticeinSriLanka
And their website is here.