Art by Jia Sung
Author’s note: I am a US-born Eelam Tamil who has engaged in advocacy work regarding Sri Lanka at the US federal level and with the UN Human Rights Council. Like many others from persecuted backgrounds, I have swallowed my grief, outrage, and trauma while discussing the horrifying genocide of my people in a way that is deemed professional. One is told what strategies are acceptable and encouraged to work with actors responsible for decades of human rights violations. Members of oppressed communities are regarded as “biased,” while genocidaires are simply “government.” This hybrid piece redacts and responds to archived, publicly-available documents from the Department of State and Congress during the Obama-Biden administration’s first term (2009-2013). During that time, the armed conflict in Sri Lanka ended with the government committing mass atrocities, decimating tens of thousands of Tamils. No one has yet been held accountable for these crimes.
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