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Victims of Enforced Disappearances Day marked in Sri Lanka

30 Aug 2021

  • Families claim no justice despite a decade’s struggle
By Pamodi Waravita The International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances was marked online via webinars yesterday (30) by two organisations, namely the Families of the Disappeared and the Association of the Relatives of the Disappeared – Northern and Eastern Provinces. At the webinar organised by the Families of the Disappeared, European Commission representative Thorsten Bargfrede shed light on the social and economic costs that loved ones of the disappeared endure in their quest for justice. “There are two types of victims here – both those who are forcibly disappeared and the families and friends they leave behind, who spend a lifetime in the dark. We are all aware of Sri Lanka’s dark history of enforced disappearances. The mental agony and the social and economic costs faced by families of victims of enforced disappearances must be addressed,” noted Bargfrede. Families of the Disappeared President Brito Fernando, speaking at the same event, stressed that the reason why the day is commemorated every year is to ensure that such injustices are not repeated in the future. “We remember our loved ones every day. We want to show the authorities that we have not given up our struggle,” said Fernando. According to Fernando, who also spoke to The Morning yesterday, the Rs. 6,000 relief payment which was allocated to families of the disappeared in the 2019 budget reading by the former United National Front (UNF)-led Government has not been carried forward by the current Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP)-led Government. “As of December 2019, 153 families with a ‘Certificate of Absence’ have been paid the allowance, amounting to a total amount of Rs. 11 million. We hope that the next budget reading will consider our concerns,” he added. Following the webinar organised by the Association of the Relatives of the Disappeared – Northern and Eastern Provinces, its Trincomalee District Head S. Devi told The Morning that she had received neither justice nor relief. “My son disappeared in March 2008. I have received neither justice nor relief from any Government since. We have protested continuously for over a decade. We want to know who made our children disappear. We want to know what happened to them. If our children are alive and are being held somewhere, we want them released.” She explained that her son was a 21-year-old when he disappeared and that she had since attempted to seek answers from many local and international authorities, at a dire personal, social, and economic cost. “I went to all the organisations, including to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, Switzerland. I sold the land that I owned for Rs. 800,000 to find money to search for my son. All I want to know is whether my son is alive. If he is not alive, then I want to know what happened to him and who is responsible for what happened to him,” Devi noted. UN Resident Co-ordinator in Sri Lanka Hanaa Singer-Hamdy said the UN stands in solidarity with the victims of enforced disappearances, their families, and communities here in Sri Lanka and across the world. “The establishment of the Office of Missing Persons (OMP) in 2016 was an important step by the Government of Sri Lanka. Building and maintaining the trust of victims and their relatives is essential for the success of the OMP. A fully independent and effective institution with the resources, skills, and political support needed for its crucial work can help provide victims and families some answers,” she said in a statement yesterday. According to the Amnesty International organisation, although Sri Lanka has one of the world’s highest numbers of enforced disappearances, with a backlog of between 60,000 and 100,000 disappearances since 1980, the authorities have failed to both protect and provide justice to families of the disappeared.


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