On the 23rd anniversary of the Day of Disappearances at the Monument of the Disappeared in Colombo, Sri Lanka, the Secretary-General of the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), Mary Aileen Bacalso, calls on the families of the disappeared to “keep the faith and persist in the struggle for justice of their loved ones.”

Ms. Bacalso lauds the women, men and children who are gathered today at the Monument of the Disappeared for their steadfastness to seek justice even under an increasingly repressive government. “We know how difficult your situation is, because you are confronted not only with the economic and psycho-emotional effects of the disappearance of your loved ones, but also the increasing repression of human rights under the present Rajapaksa government. making you vulnerable to arrest, detention and also enforced disappearance in the course of finding justice,” Ms. Bacalso adds.

The worsening human rights situation in Sri Lanka is also a major concern of AFAD because of continuing cases of enforced disappearances, aside from the 5,676 outstanding cases reported by the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (UN WGEID) in its 2012 report.

Documentation of the disappeared is a big challenge in Sri Lanka because of the huge number of victims. The staff members of the Families of the Disappeared (FOD) need to reach out to relatives of the victims especially those in remote areas where there is strong military presence particularly in the North which make them potential victims of enforced disappearance as well. The current number of cases lodged at the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (UN WGEID) only represents a small fraction of the actual situation. According to the Enforced Disappearances Information Exchange Center, earlier estimates run up to 60,000. The UN WGEID recorded only 12,319 between 1980 to 2006. In fact, in 1992, Sri Lanka was declared by the UNWGEID as the country with the highest number of enforced disappearance cases.

The AFAD, a federation with eleven organizations in eight countries in Asia, is lobbying for the ratification of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. By ratifying this Convention, States parties will be obliged to enact domestic laws criminalizing enforced disappearance. Such measure will provide families of victims with legal remedies to demand truth, justice, restitution, memory and guarantees of non-repetition.

Since the current Rajapaksa government is gearing more towards authoritarian rule, AFAD and its member-organization in the country, FOD need the support of the international community to end the practice of the government to disappear people, especially its critics.

While assuring the support of AFAD in seeking justice for their disappeared loved ones, Ms. Bacalso also encourages the women, men and children survivors or relatives of the disappeared to strengthen their organization and find creative ways to pursue its campaign. Her message echoes the call of the panel of independent experts of the UN WGEID for new strategies to tackle enforced or involuntary disappearances during its 100th session in New York on 13 July 2013.

Signed and authenticated by:

MUGIYANTO
Chairperson

MARY AILEEN D. BACALSO
Secretary-General