PEARL welcomes the Canadian Parliament’s official recognition of #May18 as Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day.

#SriLanka #TamilGenocide #TamilGenocideRemembranceDay #Mullivaikkal (1/4) This historic recognition of the Tamil genocide is a milestone in the Tamil-Canadian community, and the broader Tamil nation’s, efforts to achieve justice and accountability for Tamil victim-survivors. (2/4)

The Sri Lankan military has established several checkpoints in the Mullaitivu area, strategically placed at key locations on roads leading towards the #Mullivaikkal memorial site, where Tamils commemorate the #TamilGenocide Remembrance Day on #May18. (1/5) The checkpoints are manned by heavily armed Sri Lankan soldiers and sometimes by the army and the police together. There are several military bases and cantonments in the area. The barriers and signs are mostly in Sinhala and English only. (2/5)

#STATEMENT: தமிழினவழிப்பு நினைவு நாளைப் பேர்ள் நினைவுகூர்வதுடன், இலங்கையினால் இழைக்கப்பட்ட குற்றங்களுக்கு நீதியையும், பொறுப்புக்கூறலையும் கோருகிறது.

pearlaction.org/wp-content/upl… (1/8) முள்ளிவாய்க்காலிலுள்ள நினைவேந்தல் இடம் கடுமையான இராணுவக் கண்காணிப்பின் கீழ் உள்ளதுடன், தமது அன்பிற்குரியவர்களை நினைவுகூர்வதற்காக ஒன்றுகூடும் தமிழர்கள் காவற் துறையினரால் துன்புறுத்தப்படுவதும், அச்சுறுத்தப்படுவதும் தொடர்கிறது. (2/8)

#STATEMENT: Amidst Sri Lanka’s political and economic turmoil, PEARL joins Tamils worldwide in remembering the Tamil victims and survivors of the Mullivaikkal Massacre thirteen years ago, marked annually as Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day.

pearlaction.org/wp-content/upl… (1/10) Since the final stages of the armed conflict, an estimated range of 70,000 to 169,796 Tamils remain unaccounted for. They were either purposefully killed or disappeared by the GoSL, which is credibly accused of committing war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. (2/10)

THREAD: On the eve of #BlackJuly, we are redrawing attention to the months preceding the violence.

An often repeated myth is that the 1983 Black July pogroms were a response to the killing of 13 soldiers by the LTTE on July 23, 1983. This is false. #Tamil #lka Violence from state actors had been increasing in the months ahead of #BlackJuly. Tamils were being killed at will. Human rights activists, political activists and militants were being detained and tortured. Local newspapers, including the Saturday Review, documented the violence

This is the final stretch! There are 2 more days for your donation to PEARL to be doubled! Thanks to the support of a generous anonymous donor who is matching donations up to $10,000 USD. Donate here: pearlaction.org/get-involved/s… Last month our Senior Legal Officer, Avi Selvarajah (@aviselva), met with Dr. Hugh McDermott MP, New South Wales State Member for Prospect in Australia. Following the meeting, he highlighted PEARL’s mission of justice and self-determination for the Tamil people in parliament.

#STATEMENT: PEARL joins the UNHRC and the US ambassador for Sri Lanka in the strong condemnation of the presidential pardoning of a convicted murderer, Duminda Silva, and calls for the release of all those who have been detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). This highlights the importance of suspending the EU’s GSP+ trade preferences if human rights obligations continue to be abrogated, as outlined by Res. 2021/2748 adopted by the European Union on Thursday 10th of June 2021, regarding the deteriorating rights situation in #SriLanka.

On February 3rd, #Tamils and #Muslims in the North-East led a historic protest marching from #Pottuvil, Amparai to #Polikaddy, Jaffna — the geographic tips of the traditional Tamil homeland. They marched over 5 days in defiance of Sri Lankan court orders.⁣ #P2P Organized by Tamil and Muslim civil society organization their demands are based on: ⁣
1. A traditional Tamil homeland;⁣
2. The right to self-determination for a Tamil nation; and ⁣
3. Recognition of the Tamil nation; and⁣
4. International justice for Tamil genocide.

This month, we are celebrating PEARL’s 15th anniversary: 15 years of fearless #Tamil-led advocacy, legal work, and research to advance justice and self-determination for the Tamil people in the North-East of Sri Lanka. In 2021, our fight continues. #PEARL15 #JusticeForGenocide In 2005, @tdmanoranjan founded PEARL following humanitarian trips to Sri Lanka. In 2004, Tasha and other Tamil American volunteers hoped to raise funds to rebuild the schools in which they had been teaching English...

THREAD: The international response to the anti-Tamil pogroms of 1983, specifically the Tamil diaspora mobilization during this time, is often left out of our narratives. This resistance should be remembered and commemorated. #Tamil #lka #BlackJuly The 1983 genocide of the Tamil community was a wake-up call to the rest of the world. The Sinhala-Buddhist chauvinism demonstrated by the Sri Lankan state was finally starting to be seen and condemned by the rest of the world. #BlackJuly

THREAD: The following details the acts of violence inflicted on the Tamil People throughout the #BlackJuly Genocide. Readers are encouraged to practice caution while reading and reflecting. Note: While we’re unable to provide full accounts of the violence by piecing together different incidents we hope to provide a better understanding of how the events unfolded.

THREAD: On the eve of #BlackJuly, we are redrawing attention to the months preceding the violence.

An often repeated myth is that the 1983 Black July pogroms were a response to the killing of 13 soldiers by the LTTE on July 23, 1983. This is false. #Tamil #lka Violence from state actors had been increasing in the months ahead of #BlackJuly. Tamils were being killed at will. Human rights activists, political activists and militants were being detained and tortured. Local newspapers, including the Saturday Review, documented the violence

STATEMENT: PEARL strongly condemns this week’s establishment of two presidential task forces in #SriLanka, which sets the country on a firm course to autocratic governance. Both new task forces appear to be exclusively Sinhala and include suspected war criminals. (1/7) “Rajapaksa’s new presidential task forces will exacerbate the existing militarization and state-sponsored colonization of the Tamil-dominated North-East, breeding further tension and instability in the region,” said PEARL’s Executive Director @tdmanoranjan. (2/7)

The establishment of a military task force to “protect archaeological sites” in the eastern province is a formalization of what has been occurring for decades, in what Tamils call the traditional Tamil homeland, in the North-East of the island tamilguardian.com/content/sri-la… The Tamil homeland’s northern and eastern regions are linked through a narrow strip of land on the Mullaithivu-Trincomalee border. While the North was largely inhabitated by Tamils, the East was mainly Tamil and Muslim, until Sinhala colonization started in earnest.

Today marks the 62nd anniversary of the 1958 Anti-Tamil Pogroms. Lasting from May 22nd-27th, Sinhalese mobs murdered an estimated 300 Tamils, injured another 1000, and raped at least 200 Tamil women.

Read ‘Emergency ‘58’ by Tarzie Vitachi: tinyurl.com/emergency-58 The pogroms were sparked by the then-govt’s proposition to settle Tamil laborers in Sinhalese districts. Sinhalese mobs attacked Tamil politicians of the Federal Party travelling by train to Vavvuniya and committed widespread violence across farms in the North-Central province.

We're launching the 3rd installment of “Sinhalization of the North-East” series, this time focusing on Seruwila-Verugal. Our series examines the scope + impact of the state-sponsored Sinhalization and militarization of the traditional Tamil homeland.

Read:bit.ly/2QbIzNY The Trincomalee District is a historically majority Tamil-speaking region, with a significant presence of the indigenous Veddah. The southern part of the Trincomalee district, Kottiyarpattu, has been subjected to state-sponsored colonization for decades.

THREAD ahead of the #BlackJuly commemorations over the following days. An often repeated myth is that the 1983 Black July pogroms, in which thousands of Tamils were killed, were a response to the killing of 13 soldiers by the LTTE on July 23, 1983. This is false. #Tamil #lka Violence from state actors had been increasing in the months ahead of #BlackJuly. Tamils were being killed at will. Human rights activists, political activists and militants were being detained and tortured. Local newspapers, including the Saturday Review, documented the violence