I Stand With Yasmin - Tamil
More than 50 human rights organisations and 150 prominent individuals have signed the letter below supporting South African human rights lawyer, Yasmin Sooka, in the face of threats and vilification from the Sri Lankan Government.
Yasmin has been threatened by the head of Sri Lankan intelligence, Major General Suresh Sallay, with a law suit accusing her of conspiracy against the state in response to her work on behalf of victims.
Lawyers acting for the Major General have lodged formal complaints with the United Nations, accusing Yasmin of undermining transitional justice and reconciliation and falsely suggesting she is inciting terrorism.
Added signatories:
Jessie Duarte, deputy Secretary General, African National Congress
Dr Arujuna Sivananthan
Prof Charles Villa-Vicencio
Emeritus Professor Of Religion And Society, University Of Cape Town;
Visiting Professor, Conflict Resolution Program, Georgetown, Washington Dc
Donald Deya, Chief Executive Officer Of Palu, Arusha, Tanzania
Gabriele Mohale (Mrs.), Acting Head & Archivist, Historical Papers Research Archive & Wits Digitisation Centre, The Library, University Of The Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Krish Govender, Former Co Chairperson Of The Law Society Of South Africa
Member Of The Bureau Of The International Association Of Democratic Lawyers
Harris Dousemetzis, Lecturer Of Politics, Newcastle University, UK
Jonathan Sisson, Former President Of The International Fellowship Of Reconciliation (Ifor)
Justine Limpitlaw, Electronic Communications Law Consultant, Visiting Adjunct Professor, Link Centre, University Of The Witwatersrand
Dr Shereen Usdin
Aaron Weah, Transitional Justice Phd Researcher Based At Ulster University.
Formerly Programme Associate For International Centre For Transitional Justice (Ictj), Liberia & Country Director For Search For Common Ground-Liberia.
Ram Kumar Bhandari, Founder & President, Network Of Families Of The Disappeared (Nefad),
Nepal
Ben Winks, Advocat, High Court Of South Africa
Eduardo Gonzalez, Transitional Justice Practitioner
Mural Kan, Canada
Luke Moffett, Senior Lecturer, School Of Law, Queen's University Belfast
Roy Samathanam, Toronto
Taylor Dibbert, Adjunct Fellow, Pacific Forum
Dr Phillip Dexter
Amina Frense , Journalist
Iqbal Jassat, Exec.,Media Review Network, Jhb, South Africa
David Eichert, Department of International Relations, London School of Economics
Ronnie Govender, Former Forensic Investigator for the UN-ICTY, The Hague, Netherlands
Almudena Bernabeu, Executive Director, The Guernica Centre for International Justice
Michael Reed-Hurtado, Director of Operations, The Guernica Centre for International Justice
Stephan Parmentier, Professor of Criminology and Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Leuven
Jordi Palou-Loverdos, Director i Patró de la Fundació, Fundació Carta de la Pau dirigida a l’ONU, Spain
Glenda Wildschut, Former Commissioner South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Richard Kuper, Jewish Voice for Labour
Kathryn Irwin
Umesh Bawa, Clinical Psychologist
Stuart Russell, Canadian lawyer, Australian law professor and administrative judge (retired)
Gill H. Boehringer, Former Dean, Honorary Senior Research Fellow, Macquarie University Law School
Harishaanth Sivarajan, Student
ORGANIZATIONS
Contra Nocendi International.
South Africa Bds Coalition
Pan African Lawyers’ Union (Palu), Arusha, Tanzania.
People's Rights Group, Sri Lanka
Jewish Voice for Labour, South Africa
World Federalist Movement/Institute for Global Policy (WFM/IGP)
People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL)
International Association of People's Lawyers