• Missing persons’ relatives organisation writes to Michelle Bachelet
• Calls for Mahinda to be taken to ICC and release of Tamil political prisoners

  In a letter to United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights (HCHR) Michelle Bachelet, the Association for Relatives of Enforced Disappearances (Northern and Eastern Provinces) has called for the arrest of ousted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. “Rajapaksa ruthlessly declared that a large number of our relatives, who had surrendered during the final war of 2009, had died. This includes 29 infants and children. He played a major role in the disappearance of our loved ones as the then-Defence Secretary, and issued orders to carry out a pre-planned genocide,” claimed the letter. Calling for justice in the alleged crimes committed by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces led by the then Defence Secretary Rajapaksa, and the then President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Association listed six main demands in the letter, including the arrest of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, “regardless of which country he is hiding in”. The Association has also called for Mahinda Rajapaksa to be brought before the International Criminal Court (ICC), and for the immediate halt of the occupation of lands in the Northern and Eastern Provinces by the Armed Forces. “The Sinhala Buddhist Government is rapidly carrying out ‘Sinhala Buddhist-isation’ by occupying our lands and temples. This activity should be stopped immediately, and the land should be handed over to their rightful owners.” Furthermore, the Association called for the immediate release of Tamil political prisoners, and a permanent political solution to help the self-determination cause of the Tamil people in the North and East. “The Tamil people are entitled to self-determination and should have the opportunity to decide their own political fate. A permanent political solution must be provided through an internationally monitored referendum among the people, and their descendants who lived in the Northern and Eastern Provinces on and before 4 February 1948,” said the letter. Regarded as the lengthiest protest in the country, time-wise, the families of the disappeared have been engaged in a continuous struggle, calling for justice for those who were victims of enforced disappearances during the civil war years. The struggle passed 2,000 days on 12 August. “We, the relatives of the forcibly disappeared in the North and East of Sri Lanka, have been engaged in a continuous struggle in search of our loved ones for the past 2,000 days. They have been handed over or they have surrendered themselves, but they have since been abducted, or taken for interrogation and forcibly disappeared. Initially, in order to seek justice from the Sri Lankan Government, we met former President Maithripala Sirisena and demanded justice. He promised that our demands were justifiable and fair, and that he would fulfil his promise. But he cheated us by not fulfilling his promise,” accused the letter. The Association also claimed that the “racist attitude of the Sri Lankan Judiciary” which practises “one law for the Sinhalese and one law for the Tamils”, has led them to the conclusion that fair justice will not be meted out by the Sri Lankan Government. “So, we decided to focus our struggle towards the international world by seeking justice from the international community. A total of 138 parents who joined us initially in the struggle died without knowing the whereabouts of their loved ones and without finding justice. But we continue to fight with confidence towards the international community.” In March 2021, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) recognised that it is vital to preserve and analyse evidence of human rights violations in Sri Lanka, in order to promote accountability. This was done through Resolution 46/1, which garnered 22 votes in favour of it and 11 votes against it, and was tabled by the Core Group on Sri Lanka at the UNHRC (Canada, Germany, North Macedonia, Malawi, Montenegro, and the UK). In her written update earlier this year, Bachelet called upon the UNHRC and its Member States to cooperate with the Office of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in its discharge of accountability related work under Resolution 46/1, and to provide it with the adequate human and financial resources so as to enable it to effectively deliver the full mandate given under the said Resolution. Bachelet is due to give a comprehensive report with options about furthering accountability when the Council meets for its 51st session from 13 September of this year.