International Recognition

Against the background of a powerful Sri lankan diplomatic lobby, reinforced by misrepresentation of facts and falsehood, the Tamils have been making every effort in the international arena to seek legitimacy for the claim of self-determination and the right to armed defence against genocidal oppression. The international campaign for the recognition and realization of the Tamil right to self-determination was raised at the United Nations Human Rights Commission. International NGOs sympathetic to the Tamil cause have been pleading with the UN Commission to recognize the legitimate claim of the Tamil people for self-determination. A joint statement by several international NGOs at the 49th session of the UN Human Right Commission held on February 1993 under the theme 'The right of peoples to self-determination and its application to peoples under colonial or alien domination or foreign occupation' called for the recognition of Tamils as a people with the right to self-determination. The joint statement observed that:

"The Tamil population in the North and East, who have lived for many centuries within relatively well defined geographical boundaries, share an ancient heritage, a vibrant culture, and a living language which traces its origins to more than 2500 years ago. A social group, which shares objective elements such as a common language and which has acquired a subjective consciousness of togetherness by its life within a relatively well defined territory, and its struggle against alien domination, clearly constitutes a "people" with the right to self-determination. Today, there is an urgent need for the international community to recognize that the Tamil population in the North and East of the Island of Sri Lanka are such a "people" with the right to freely choose their political status".

This joint statement, by the international NGO's with U.N consultative status, calling for the recognition of the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka as the Tamil homeland and the Tamils as a people with the right to self-determination, was a significant development in the campaign to win international support for the Tamil liberation struggle.

Though, so far, the U.N Commission on Human Rights has not taken any serious action with regard to the Tamil national question, it has been under constant pressure over the last decade to initiate steps to satisfy the legitimate aspirations of the Tamils within the framework of human rights and the right to self-determination. Every year, as the situation in the Tamil homeland becomes more grave and dangerous with the aggravation of the war of aggression and occupation unleashed against the Tamils by Sri Lanka, the Tamil claim is gaining momentum in this UN forum.

Originally, the principle of self-determination was applied specifically to people under colonial domination fighting a liberation struggle for political independence and statehood. In contemporary historical times the principle has broader application that includes people facing various modes of oppression. Particularly it applies to people oppressed by racist regimes or subjected to alien domination or foreign occupation. Alien domination entails subjugation of one nation by another nation.

The Tamil people are oppressed by the Sinhala racist state. They are subjected to military domination and occupation by the alien Sinhala nation. It is a well documented fact that Sinhala Governments have been making determined effort by the use of military force to subjugate and assimilate the Tamil people within the Sinhala dominated state. This is a clear case of alien domination and subjugation. Therefore, the Tamils satisfy the necessary conditions in international law to exercise their right to self-determination. On the basis of their entitlement to exercise self-determination, they have the right to armed struggle. In other words, the armed struggle of the Tamils is a legitimate political struggle in international law.