Details have emerged about relatives of the disappeared in Sri Lanka’s North continue to be under pressure to obtain death certificates, instead of being informed about the fate of their loved ones who surrendered to government forces at the end of the war.
The information, which implies that justice for the war victims of Sri Lanka’s North and East remains a distant prospect, was revealed by a young woman who took to the streets of Mullaitivu to demand justice for her father on the ninth anniversary of the ongoing protest that began in Mullaitivu on International Women’s Day in 2017, calling for the truth about the disappeared to be uncovered.
Sathurjana, a member of the Mullaitivu District Association of Relatives of the Enforced Disappeared, who participated in the protest march launched by hundreds of Tamil mothers and relatives of the forcibly disappeared representing all five districts of the Northern Province over the Vattuvakkal Bridge where their loved ones were handed over to the army at the end of the war, told journalists that her mother had recently received a letter requesting that they obtain a death certificate for her father, whom she herself had handed over to the government forces.
“My mother said my father was handed over to the Sri Lankan army during the 2009 war. We do not know anything beyond that. For all these years, there has been no answer to the question of where my father is. Recently, a letter came asking us to obtain a death certificate for my father. Why should we obtain a death certificate without a proper decision? Our mother handed our father over to the army. There has been no answer so far. Why should we get a death certificate for my father from the government that has not given an answer for so long? We will not take it. We will not take it until they tell us where our father is.”
Sathurjana, who expressed no confidence that justice will be served to the relatives of the forcibly disappeared even under the current regime, further emphasized to journalists that the next generation will not give up the fight for justice until the fate of their relatives is revealed.
“Now Anura has come and speaks about developing the country by sharing new news. I ask the same question every year. Where is our father? My mother has been waiting for our father to return for so long. We are also waiting for the same. If our father is not there, it does not matter. You must have done something. We do not care about the situation in the country. When we were young, we did not understand anything. We have been through a lot to reach this situation. From now on, we need an answer to only one question: where is our father? We need our father. If he is not there, we need an answer. We need an explanation of what you did to him. Otherwise, as long as we are alive – my sister is also here – we will keep asking this question until the next generation. We will continue asking it to the generations that follow. We will not leave until we receive an answer.”
Provincial correspondents say that at least 400 Tamil parents who began protests in the North and East in 2017, searching for their husbands, daughters, sons, brothers and other relatives, have already died without receiving justice since the civil war ended in bloodshed in May 2009.
Subramaniam Paramanandam, leader of the Association of Relatives of the Enforced Disappeared in Mullaitivu District, told journalists that no victim has faith in the Office of Missing Persons (OMP) established on 28th February 2018, and had failed to locate a single disappeared relative.
“They brought the OMP. Our Association of Relatives of the Enforced Disappeared in the North and East explained the facts to those who introduced it. We gave them details of five people with very clear evidence for investigation. After some time, they have even misplaced the documents we had given them. After that, we completely lost trust in them.”
Recalling that this International Women’s Day is also a day of mourning for women in the North and East, Subramaniam Paramanandam repeatedly emphasized to journalists that they are expecting international intervention to achieve justice.
“From that day until today, we have believed in the international community. The international community must provide us with a solution. We are appealing to the international community and to international organizations: look at us. Look at the genocide that has happened to us. Therefore, with the hope that the international community will look at us and provide a solution, even though today is International Women’s Day, today is a day of mourning for the Tamil people of the North and East who are searching for their relatives.”
Sivanandan Jenita, secretary of the Association of Relatives of the Forcibly Disappeared in the North and East, who participated in the protest march, told journalists that the government, which has used the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) currently in force to suppress the struggles launched by the Tamil people for justice, is now attempting to introduce the Protection of State from Terrorism Act (PSTA) for the same purpose. She warned that the Tamil people must remain vigilant regarding this proposed law.
“The Sri Lankan government is introducing new laws to suppress the struggles of our relatives. The Prevention of Terrorism Act is still in force today. Through that law, the government’s intelligence agencies suppress our struggle by issuing threats, restraining orders, filing lawsuits and carrying out arrests. Now the government is preparing to enforce the new PSTA law. Therefore, this government is implementing planned measures to suppress our struggles, prevent our relatives from being found, and forcibly maintain its rule in this country.”
At the end of February, Tamil civil society activists from the North and East mailed a petition containing 29,069 signatures to the Ministry of Justice urging the government to repeal the current Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and withdraw the proposed Protection of the State from Terrorism Act (PSTA).
Sivanandhan Jenita further accused the Sri Lankan government of making a concerted effort to destroy the Vattuvakkal Bridge itself – regarded a monument to the genocide – under the guise of development, in order to erase traces of the Tamil genocide.
Joining the protest, Vanni District Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) MP Thurairasa Ravikaran recalled that parties involved in the ongoing war in the Middle East are also parties connected to the destruction experienced by the Tamil people in the North and East of Sri Lanka.
He stated that it was painful to see former presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa and Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who led the military campaign that destroyed Tamil communities, including young children now expressing shock over the war situation in the Middle East.
MP Raviharan further urged the current rulers to ensure justice and fairness for Tamils and act quickly to wipe away the tears of the relatives of those who were forcibly disappeared.
The Association of Relatives of the Enforced Disappeared, which alleges that justice has not been delivered in the country for their relatives who disappeared after surrendering to government forces at the end of the war or after being forcibly abducted, has been calling for international intervention for justice for almost seventeen years.
