CTC Statement on the 7th Year May Remembrance

May 18th will be forever etched in our memories as the day when Tamils around the world watched in horror as the war in Sri Lanka came to a disastrous end. Thousands of innocent people were slaughtered. Seven years later, we mourn those men, women and children, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, whose lives were brutally taken.

Canadian Tamil Congress urges all Tamil Canadians to remember the thousands of innocent people who were killed during the last stages of the war by offering prayers, flowers at temples, churches and remembrance events. We also encourage you to donate blood in a Canadian Blood Services clinic near you in remembrance of the lives lost in 2009. The Canadian Blood Services group ID for Tamil Canadian community is TAMIL CANADIANS.

Just last year, on October 1, 2015, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) passed a consensus resolution , co-sponsored by Sri Lanka and many other countries, providing a genuine opportunity for real progress on accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka. While progress has been made, we urge the Sri Lankan government to expedite the process and implement the resolution in full, including: participation by international personnel as agreed upon in the resolution; commitment to a political settlement through necessary constitutional measures, which is underway; the review and repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, and the review of the Victims and Witness Protection Act; establishment of an office to trace missing persons; the release of Tamil political prisoners not charged; and, the accelerated return of balance lands to owners.

As Tamils, on this solemn day, let us unite and resolve to work together as a community to move forward, so that Tamils in Sri Lanka can live with peace, dignity, equality and justice.