– Tamil Youth release a video of British MPs publicly calling for sanctions –
Since the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020 came into force, the ICPPG launched a campaign to call upon the UK government to sanction the Sri Lankan war criminals including the notorious Shavendra Silva who are response for the Genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka. The Tamil youth and the victims in the UK joined the campaign and took it forward in multiple channels.
In April 2021, the ITJP, a highly respected Human Rights Organization submitted a 50-page dossier consisting evidence of Shavendra Silva’s involvement in the war crimes to the Sanctions Department of the UK’s FCDO and demanded his ban in the UK.
In May and in June 2021, the ICPPG submitted petitions to the British Prime Minister and the FCDO based on testimonies of at least 200 Tamil Youth tortured and sexually abused by the Sri Lankan armed forces most recently in 2019 to 2021.
As a result of the rigorous campaign, on 18 May 2022 an Early Day Motion (EDM 64) was brought in the British Parliament. The Tamil victims managed to persuade more than 30 British MPs jointly signed the EDM calling for sanctions and independent investigation into the War Crimes and Genocide in Sri Lanka.
Under the pursuit of the ICPPG, the Tamil youth and the victims continue to meet the British Parliamentarians and urge them to apply political pressure on the FCDO to take serious steps to sanction Shavendra Silva and others. As a result of their relentless efforts, several British MPs joined the campaign and expressed their support by publicly calling for sanctions.
Today, the campaigners launched a video compiling the public statements made by the British politicians in support of the call to sanction Sri Lankan war criminals including Shavendra Silva, the Chief of the Sri Lankan Army.