By Brian Stewart, CBC News, 22 March 2012 - Human rights violations are too big to ignore, Canada and the UN now say - When victims of mass abuse are ignored they are twice victimized: first by their oppressors, secondly by the world's indifference. That's why few failures in the field of human rights are more discouraging than the old double standard of favouring one set of victims over another. Just ask the ethnic Tamils of Sri Lanka. In the past three years they've absorbed brutality, military defeat and world indifference all at once, as other of the world's injustices took centre stage.

By Ron Ridenour, 22 March 2012 - Surprise yet uneven Human Rights Council conclusion: Sri Lanka-Tamils - Human Rights Council voted today (March 22) to criticize the Sri Lankan government for “not adequately address[ing] serious allegations of violations of international law” when conducting its final phases of war against the liberation guerrilla army LTTE (Liberation Tigers for Tamil Eelam), which ended, May 18, 2009, with government-caused massive blood baths.

IANS, 22 March 2012 - Chennai : DMK president M.Karunanidhi Thursday termed a Tamil Eelam his unrealised dream and he will fight for its realisation, while citing rivalry between the Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups as the reason that prevented its formation. Asked by reporters here on his reaction to passing of US-backed resolution against Sri Lanka in the United Nation Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and whether there is a possibility of Tamil Eelam in the future, Karunanidhi said: "As far as I am concerned that is the goal." He said even in the past, whenever he was asked about his unrealised dream, he had answered "Tamil Eelam".

CPJ, New York, March 22, 2012 -- The Sri Lankan government must immediately halt its intimidation of journalists who supported the adoption of a U.N. Human Rights Council resolution calling for an investigation into the country's alleged abuses of international humanitarian law during its war with Tamil separatists. Journalists in the capital, Colombo, told CPJ they were concerned by a state-controlled media campaign against them, which called them "traitors" for supporting the U.S.-backed motion. News accounts reported that Wednesday's vote, which passed 24 to 15, with eight abstentions, infuriated the Sri Lankan government.

UN News, 22 March 2012 – The top United Nations human rights body today called on the Government of Sri Lanka to take “credible” steps to ensure accountability for alleged serious violations committed during the final stages of the country’s civil war. In a resolution adopted today, the 47-member Human Rights Council called on the Government to take “all necessary additional steps to fulfil its relevant legal obligations and commitment to initiate credible and independent actions to ensure justice, equity, accountability and reconciliation for all Sri Lankans.”

By Yolanda Foster, Sri Lanka team, Amnesty International, 22 March 2012 - Today, the Human Rights Council has made good on its mandate and voted for a resolution that will ensure a future for human rights protection in Sri Lanka. This is a vital first step towards justice for the thousands of people who have suffered during and since the end of the country’s brutal, decades’ long war in May 2009. My visits to the Human Rights Council in Geneva have been a regular part of Amnesty International’s advocacy on Sri Lanka since 2009. But contrary to what you may think, there’s little glamour in lobbying work which often involves long hours sitting in the Serpentine Gallery waiting to catch diplomats entering and exiting Council Chambers in between debates.

HRW, March 22, 2012 - Broad International Support for Resolution Seeking Accountability - (Geneva) - The United Nations Human Rights Council’s adoption of a resolution on Sri Lanka demonstrates strong international support for accountability for abuses committed in Sri Lanka’s armed conflict, Human Rights Watch said today. The resolution passed the council by a vote of 24 to 15, with 8 abstentions. Member countries voting for the resolution included India, Nigeria and the United States. “Human Rights Council members recognized that when it came to accountability, Sri Lanka has been all talk and no action,” said Juliette De Rivero, advocacy director at Human Rights Watch in Geneva.. “It’s crucial that implementation of the resolution be closely monitored to ensure that the victims of Sri Lanka’s long war finally achieve some measure of justice.”

Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC, March 22nd, 2012 - Geneva, Switzerland - The British Tamils Forum (BTF), Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC), and the United States Tamil Political Action Council (USTPAC) welcome resolution A/HRC/19/L.2, adopted by the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, today. “This resolution is a welcome first step towards accountability and peace in Sri Lanka. This is the first substantive UN resolution regarding Sri Lanka since 1987, and it puts the government of Sri Lanka on notice that the international community will no longer passively accept gross violations of human rights and humanitarian law”, stated Vani Selvarajah, spokeswoman for the diaspora organizations. “Though we would have preferred the resolution to establish an International Commission of Inquiry, we see this as an incremental first step towards establishing a proper mechanism towards accountability in Sri Lanka. Through this resolution, Sri Lanka has the opportunity to choose a path towards peace,” concluded Selvarajah.

March 22, 2012 - Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today welcomed the adoption of a resolution, co-sponsored by Canada, to promote reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka: “I am very pleased by the response of members of the UN Human Rights Council to the resolution on Sri Lanka. Canada has consistently urged the Government of Sri Lanka to implement the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission’s report and to develop a complementary road map to that end. This resolution, and the support it garnered, is a clear message to Sri Lankan leaders to work with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to develop its implementation plan."

Tamil Solidarity, March 22, 2012 - At last, many will think, the so-called international community of governments has recognised the horror of the 2009 genocide in Sri Lanka. But unfortunately the passing of the United Nations Human Right Council (UNHRC) resolution is too little too late. The crucial lesson, drawn out here by Tamil Solidarity, is that nothing would have been achieved without the pressure of the solidarity of ordinary people, the real ‘international community’. On this basis the fight for Tamil rights and a serious and credible investigation into the war crimes must and will go on. Three years have passed since over 40,000 people were massacred by the Sri Lankan regime in May 2009. Since then the government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) has dismissed accusations of war crimes made by campaigners such as Tamil Solidarity and human rights activists as ‘fraudulent’.