Marking the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances 2025, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka, Marc-André Franche, has urged the government to confront its legacy of unresolved disappearances with transparency, courage, and justice.
Franche described the issue as a “national wound left open by silence, inaction, and impunity,” emphasising that the fate of thousands of forcibly disappeared Sri Lankans remains unknown across all communities on the island.
“The pain of being left without answers about a loved one is a trauma that time alone cannot heal. It is a suffering that endures, deepened by the absence of truth and justice,” he said.
This year’s observance comes amid renewed attention to mass grave sites, with ongoing excavations revealing human skeletal remains, including those believed to be children, as well as personal belongings.
He said the discoveries are a stark reminder of the scale of past human rights violations and the urgent need for credible, independent investigations.
He welcomed the Sri Lankan government’s recent decision to invite the public to help identify items recovered from mass graves, but stressed that “much more needs to be done.”
The UN official acknowledged Sri Lanka’s steps toward addressing this legacy, including ratifying the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and establishing the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) and the Office for Reparations.
However, he urged that these institutions be given adequate resources, independence, and forensic capacity to fulfil their mandates.
Franche also expressed concern over surveillance, intimidation, and reprisals reportedly faced by families of the disappeared and human rights defenders, particularly during memorial activities.
“All those engaged in exercising their rights must be protected, not punished,” he said.
He recalled the June visit of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, who met with families of the disappeared and reiterated the need to investigate mass graves as a matter of urgent priority.
Franche also added that the United Nations “stands in solidarity with every family searching for their loved ones” and remains committed to supporting independent investigations, truth-seeking, and reparations to ensure accountability and guarantees of non-recurrence.