A vocal Tamil protest greeted Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake in Berlin on Thursday, as he met with senior German officials, amidst calls for accountability over mass atrocities committed against Tamils.
Protesters gathered outside Bellevue Palace, where Dissanayake was formally welcomed by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. As the Sri Lankan president’s motorcade passed under heavy security, demonstrators chanted slogans condemning the lack of justice for the 2009 Mullivaikkal genocide, during which tens of thousands of Tamils were killed by the Sri Lankan state.
As German troops assembled for a ceremonial Guard of Honour, chants from the Tamil protest could be heard echoing across the palace grounds.The demonstration came as Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the German government to press Dissanayake on Sri Lanka’s continuing human rights abuses and failure to deliver accountability.
“Both Sri Lanka and Germany have newly elected leaders, but key human rights concerns that Chancellor Friedrich Merz should raise with visiting President Anura Kumar Dissanayake in Berlin… have lingered for decades,” said Philipp Frisch, Director for Germany at Human Rights Watch, in a statement released ahead of the visit.
HRW warned that successive Sri Lankan governments, including Dissanayake’s, have protected senior officials implicated in war crimes and obstructed United Nations Human Rights Council efforts to advance justice.
Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan president’s media division emphasised Dissanayake’s engagements with German officials, seeking to highlight economic and trade opportunities.
During his visit, Dissanayake met German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Berlin. According to Sri Lanka’s media division, the two discussed “expanding cooperation between their countries, highlighting new opportunities in trade, the digital economy, investment and vocational training.”
Earlier in the day, Dissanayake was formally received at Bellevue Palace by President Steinmeier, where he was welcomed with full state honours, including a ceremonial Guard of Honour from the German Armed Forces.
It is unclear whether accountability or humans right was discussed at either meeting.
The Tamil protest, however, served as a reminder that for many, the central unresolved issue remains the lack of justice for war crimes and genocide, and the ongoing repression of Tamils in the North-East of the island.
Source : tamil Gurardian
