UN Human Rights Council Advocacy Project

BTF Human Rights Team – Short and mid-term objectives

Setting up and International Independent Commission to investigate War crimes and crimes against Humanity in Sri Lanka

UN General Assembly or the Security Council to refer Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court

Working with Human Rights working groups:

• Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
• Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
• Working Group on the use of mercenaries

Joint advocacy programme with Tamil Diaspora organisationsto target the 47 member states of UN Human Rights Council to seek their political support and to raise the priority level of Sri Lankan issue in the Council.

Academic and Legal research to establish the case to prove the crime of genocide against the Tamil speaking people in Sri Lanka

About BTF Human Rights Team

Team of young professionals from diverse backgrounds are working on the BTF Human Rights Team to further the rights case in the national and international forums.

Key success stories so far:

• Built working relationships with the UN member states
• Built Working relationship with the UN Human Rights Secretariat
• Capacity building and knowledge sharing activities in the field of advocacy and diplomacy
• Represent Tamil case in every sessions of the UN Human Rights council since 2008

Current focus:

Our immediate priority and focus is on the March 2012 Human Rights session to raise awareness on accountability issues relating to the genocidal massacre in Mullivaikal and the conduct of the war in the period leading up to the final days.

Currently we are working in collaboration with the following partner organisations

• Global Tamils Forum and its country organizations
• Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC)
• United States Tamils Political Action Council (USTPAC)
• Holland Tamils Forum
• Tamils Against Genocide

We are also working in a coordination with other Tamil stake holders and International NGOs.

Due to the sensitive nature of this project, specifics of the projects are not discussed in our website, but we invite support and help from the wider public.

Project resource requirements:

Human Resources

To be effective and successful we are seeking people with the rights skills in the following areas

Language skills:  English, French, Spanish, Hindi, Chinese and Russian

Research skills:    in the area of political and international diplomacy

Negotiating skills:                Skilled negotiators

Networks and contacts

In this world of politics and diplomacy networking is essential to reach the right people who can make a difference.  While we have established networks with some of the 47 counties there are many others yet to be developed.  We need people who have contacts with political circles in any of these 47 countries. In our day to day life we come into contact with different nationalities in London during work, leisure and sports activities.If you are one of those, who knows someone,who has connections to political circles of their country of origin we need you. These connections will help us to gain easy cost effective access to these diplomats and politicians.  Please come forward and talk to us if you can help on this respect. Your anonymity will be guaranteed.

Activisms

Political diplomacy without people power or activism will not go anywhere. Activism at grass-root level is very important to make politicians hear our voice. ”The III” (3is) and “Are they alive” campaigns are good examples for their effective outcomes.  Effective online campaigns on face book, twitter and other social media are now powerful tools that are at our disposal.

We need people who are skilled in the use of this technology to work in line with the overall strategy.

Media and Publicity

Participation and support of the wider community in the host countries is vital for shifting the political direction of these countries in our favour.   The media plays a major role in this respect and building relationships with the people in these fields is essential.  Bloggers, copy editors, and citizen journalists are wanted in big numbers to convey our side of the story to the wider public.We are willing to train and develop these skills of volunteers.

Funds

Political lobbying involves amongst other things, meetings, hosting events for dignitaries and travelling.  These activities require substantial funding which has to be found to meet the challenges thrown at us by the Sri Lankan foreign missions.

We have an advantage over the Sri Lankan government as we only have to tell the truth.  However, without funding, the truth will not be told.    In the absence of lobbying by the Tamils, the Sri Lankan lies repeated over time will stick. The lies of the Sri Lankan foreign missions will be the only story that the unsuspecting dignitaries will hear and believe.Our mission is to ensure that the truth is heard.

As a community organisation exclusively relying on public donations,we need every penny you can contribute towards this mission.   The work we have done so far has resulted in a very high financial burden on few individuals who have sacrificed a lot for our cause.  A sustained lobby campaign requires support of much wider support by the Tamil people.  Please do the right thing and contribute as much as you can while encouraging others around you to do the same so that we can continue our struggle for justice

Please visit our funding and donations page and make a donation.

About the council

The UN Human Rights Council (the Council) was created on March 15, 2006 by the UN General Assembly in replacement of the Commission on Human Rights.  This council composed of 47 elected member States, the Council works collectively to strengthen the promotion and protection of human rights around the world by addressing situations of human rights violations and making recommendations.

To the above mandate three regular sessions held in March, June and September every year. Special sessions can be called by one-third of the membership to address urgent situations.

Membership of the Human Rights Council from 20 June 2011 – 31 December 2012 – By regional groups

AFRICAN STATES	LATIN AMERICAN & CARIBBEAN STATES
Angola 2013 Benin 2014 Botswana 2014 Burkina Faso 2014 Cameroon 2012 Congo 2014 Djibouti 2012 Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 2013 * Mauritania 2013 Mauritius 2012 Nigeria 2012 Senegal 2012 Uganda 2013	Chile 2014 Costa Rica 2014 Cuba 2012 Ecuador 2013 Guatemala 2013 Mexico 2012 Peru 2014 Uruguay 2012
ASIAN STATES	WESTERN EUROPE & OTHER STATES
Bangladesh 2012 China 2012 India 2014 Indonesia 2014 Jordan 2012 Kuwait 2014 Kyrgyzstan 2012 Malaysia 2013 Maldives 2013 Philippines 2014 Qatar 2013 Saudi Arabia 2012 Thailand 2013	Austria 2014 Belgium 2012 Italy 2014 Norway 2012 Spain 2013 Switzerland 2013 United States 2012
EASTERN EUROPEAN STATES
Czech Republic 2014 Hungary 2012 Poland 2013 Republic of Moldova 2013 Romania 2014 Russian Federation 2012