The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) strongly condemns the Sri Lanka’s police and military forces’ halting of the families of the disappeared and human rights defenders in NorthSri Lanka from travelling to join a protest action in Colombo.
A mobilization of 600 people gathered in Vavuniya on 5 March to demand for truth and justice for their disappeared kin in a protest action organized by the Association of the Families Searching for theDisappeared Relatives set on the following day. The families initially intended to submit a petition to theUN office in Colombo to determine the fate of their loved ones.
As the contingent started to assemble in the Vavuniya Urban Council (UC) Grounds, men in civil clothesstarted questioning the protesters about the purpose of their assembly, the identity of the organizers,funding sources, among others. The police demanded for the details of the 11 buses parked at the UCgrounds and then allowed for the buses to proceed to Colombo. When the protesters started pulling outfrom the UC grounds at 8:30 p.m., the police halted the buses and claimed that they received reports that a bus was stoned between Vavuniya and Anuradhapura. Based on the security concern, police trucks started blocking the path of the buses.
An estimate of the 75% of the family members were women coming from Jaffna, Kilinochchi,Mullaithivu, and Vavuniya districts.
Families of the disappeared and human rights defenders seeking for truth behind the thousands of disappeared in Sri Lanka have been subjected to varying forms and degrees of security risks.
The disappearance of human rights defender Lalith Weeraraj on 9 December 2011 was primarily traced tohis documentation and campaigning for the disappeared Tamils in Trincomalee, Mannar, Vavuniya, Killinochchi and Jaffna Districts.
Another human rights defender was subjected to surveillance and threats after leading and participating inthe protest action for the disappeared journalist, Prageeth Ekneligoda on 14 January 2013. SandyaEkneligoda, Prageeth’s wife has also suffered from intense persecution of the Sri Lankan government when she asserts for truth and justice for the disappeared before the international community.
In November 2012, families of the disappeared and human rights defenders in Negombo were detained for a few hours by members of the Sri Lankan police force after participating in an activity dedicated to the disappeared in Sri Lanka.
Even the Monument for the Disappeared Persons in the Raddolugama-Seeduwa junction in Gampaha district was not spared. The Parish Priest of St. Cecilia’s Church had requested the Sri Lankan police to demolish the internationally and locally recognized Monument where families, human rights defenders and political figures from across the country commemorate Sri Lanka’s disappeared every 27 October.
The mentioned incidents are among the high-profile cases that had sufficient media mileage. Still, thereare thousands of stories left untold where families have struggled with disappearances, the search, and thegovernment’s inaction and utmost disrespect for their loved ones. Stories of grief are waiting to beexpressed through public venues, actions and engagement with government authorities.
The blocking of the 600 family members and human rights defenders from participating in the Colombo protest not only violated their rights to peaceful assembly but also signified the glaring reality that for several years, the struggle for truth and justice has been systematically blocked by the Sri Lankangovernment. The truth is prevented from reaching the public, using different means and resourcesnecessary to demoralize the families and human rights defenders from finding the truth and abandoningthe search for justice.
The AFAD stands with the families and other civil society organizations in Sri Lanka in their struggle todetermine the fate of the disappeared, the investigation and prosecution of guilty parties, and the persistent clamor to end the systematic assault of the government to the people’s right to peacefulassembly, freedom of expression and opinion, the right to truth, justice and reparation.
MUGIYANTO
Chairperson
MARY AILEEN BACALSO
Secretary-General