We, the Tamils of North America from the USA and Canada are:
1. deeply concerned and shocked by the humanitarian catastrophe and bloodbath in the Vanni and by the failure of the international community to protect the Tamil civilians.
2. distressed that the Sri Lankan state engaged in the deliberate genocide of the Tamil civilians, killing over 30,000 since January 2009 in contravention of the Geneva Conventions, and alarmed by the ongoing disappearances in the thousands.
3. distressed that during the war to occupy Vanni, the Sri Lankan state committed war crimes and crimes against humanity as evidenced by UN satellite image analysis, along with personal testimony, photographs and video clips from the conflict zone (so-called safe zone).
4. disappointed by the complete failure of the international community and the U.N to protect the Tamil civilians.
5. saddened that the freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom of movement of the Tamil people confined in Internment Camps, and of the Tamil people in the open prisons of the Jaffna Peninsula, the East, and in other parts of the island, who are all in fear of persecution by Sri Lanka’s government (GoSL) without adequate recourse to legal remedy, are restricted.
6. cognizant of the fact that the Tamil people have the inalienable right to self-determination, deciding their own destiny in the land where they have lived for over two millennia.
7. urged to recall that the Tamil people have mandated, in the Vaddukkoddai Resolution of 1976 and the general election in 1977, that establishing a free, sovereign state of Tamil Eelam would be the only enduring solution..
8. mindful that the declaration of the Thimpu Principles, in Bhutan in 1985, was agreed to unanimously by all the Tamil parties.
9. aware that consistent with General Assembly Resolution 2625 (1975), which is also considered as customary international law, stating that in a non-colonial context, when a “people” are denied effective participation in the political process, they can exercise their right to self-determination in external form creating a separate state.
10. aware that under the international law concepts of self-preservation and self-defense, that when a people are subject to genocide they can establish a separate state for themselves.
11. noting with all seriousness that the scale and intensity of the current genocide has reinforced the Tamil people’s belief that only in an independent state the Tamils’ very physical survival can be guaranteed.
We hereby resolve that:
1. there be immediate access to all Tamil areas for humanitarian workers, the United Nations, INGOs, the ICRC & the media without threat or intimidation.
2. the ICRC and UNHCR should be present to monitor IDPs from their screening point to the camps or hospitals, and should be responsible for all records of IDPs, while supervising on a continuous basis the distribution of aid provided by international donors.
3. the IDP camps be operated by the ICRC and UNHCR independent of the GoSL.
4. the international community must channel all their relief, rehabilitation, reconstruction and all IDP related aid in the NorthEast through International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs) and local NGOs from the NorthEast so that such aid reaches the IDPs directly, without the GoSL receiving or allocating any international funds and relief.
5. everything possible must be done, even extraordinary measures, to resettle Tamil IDPs promptly in their own lands, to prevent the ethnic cleansing through colonization of Vanni and other areas of the Tamil homeland by ethnic Sinhalese.
6. the international community must work to restore the fundamental rights of the IDP internees, including the right to life, protection from disappearances, freedom of movement, freedom of expression and freedom of association.
7. the Tamil Diaspora community must be permitted to take in and distribute humanitarian relief items, under international supervision.
8. all killings and attacks on Tamil civilians by the GoSL and the war crimes committed by the GoSL must be investigated by an independent international panel of experts from the European Union and/or the USA, which should lead to international prosecution of those who are found culpable.
9. the following days that hold special meaning to the World Tamils be observed as solemn occasions where we pay tribute to our fallen and renew our resolve never to be subjugated –
1. The Lament of Vanni (May 17th)
2. Black July ( July 23rd)
3. National Heroes Day ( Nov 27th)
10. negotiations for a confederal arrangement to the conflict must begin immediately, based on the legal principles of the right to self-determination of the Tamil people and the reversion to sovereignty, which was taken away by force by succeeding colonial powers.
11. if negotiations fail, a referendum with international supervision should be held amongst the Tamils living in Sri Lanka and the Tamils in exile, in connection with the establishment of an independent state.
Signed: Canadian Tamil Congress and Ilankai Tamil Sangam