Tamil Rights Group Offers Legal Opinion to the Government of Canada Against the Appointment of Air Chief Marshal Sumangala Dias as Sri Lanka’s Envoy to Canada

MARKHAM, ONTARIO, CANADA, January 4, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- A week ago, the Tamil Rights Group (TRG) wrote to the Prime Minister of Canada as well as the Foreign Minister and the Attorney General of Canada, registering its serious concerns about the potential appointment of Air Chief Marshal Sumangala Dias as Sri Lanka’s next envoy to Canada.

Based on a legal opinion prepared by one of Canada’s leading human rights lawyers, David Matas, C.M. and assisted by Sarah Teich, TRG requested that the Government of Canada notify the Government of Sri Lanka that Air Marshal Dias would be unacceptable and unwelcome, persona non grata. TRG has also further requested the Government of Canada to initiate an investigation to determine whether further restrictive measures are warranted against him pursuant to the Magnitsky Act. The legal opinion makes a case for criminal command responsibility by Air Marshal Dias for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, as well as his violation of the standards of the Commonwealth Charter, especially as the civil war in Sri Lanka drew to a close in May 2009.

Tamil Rights Group is a newly established international not-for-profit organisation, headquartered in Markham, Canada, that seeks to further strengthen advocacy efforts for transitional justice and accountability for the Tamils of Lanka through international law measures, expanded global diplomacy, and defending their civil liberties within Sri Lanka. To this new chapter, TRG brings together a multigenerational team, deep networks within civil society in the traditional homelands and across the diaspora, and activists directly connected to the struggle for Tamil rights since the early 1970s.

Read legal opinion here:
https://secureservercdn.net/192.169.220.85/19n.75a.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/TRG-Canada-PM-Letter-and-Legal-Opinion-Sumangala-Dias-Dec-2020.pdf

Katpana Nagendra
Tamil Rights Group
+1 778-870-5824
katpana@tamilrightsgroup.org
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