As preparations for the protest were being made the night before (September 30^th), two military officials threatened the head of the Mullaitivu Missing Persons Association, Mariyasuresh Easwary, at her house and demanded information about the protest. A large number of investigators visited the families and took photos and videos, intimidating and threatening the protestors. On August 30, Tamil relatives of the disappeared rallied across the North East to mark the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. Despite the heavy presence of the Sri Lankan Police, hundreds of protestors marched through Jaffna carrying placards that read sentences such as “We are searching with tears our loved ones for more than ten years those who were snatched in front of us”, or “How can death certificates being issued for people handed over alive?”.

In Mullaitivu, the protestors waved banners saying “An international impartial inquiry is needed to find the missing”, “Abolish the Prevention of Terrorism Act”, “An international investigation should be conducted through the International Criminal Court”. Similarly, protestors marched through Batticaloa despite a court order imposed by the Sri Lankan police. On March 8, protestors holding placards with messages written in Tamil, English and Sinhala marched from Selvapuram to the Mullaitivu district. One of the powerful posters read “If the answers to hour children handed over to the military are death certificates, who are the killers?” On February 14, many families of the disappeared marked the day as “Missing Lovers Day,” in remembrance of their loved ones. Hundreds of people gathered in Colombo to commemorate their missing family members, and demanded justice, truth and reparation by marching towards the offices of the Prime Minister and of the President.

Thousands of civilians went missing towards the end of the civil war. When Maithripala Sirisena defeated Mahinda Rajapaksa in the 2015 elections, a glimmer of hope arose for the families of the disappeared. For the first time, Sirisena admitted that 65,000 people were forcibly disappeared during the civil war. He also promised to issue a certificate to the families that would allow them to access government welfare programs, as well as manage the property of their missing relatives. In 2015, the government co-sponsored the landmark UN Human Rights Council Resolution 30/1, to promote accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka. And in 2018, Sirisena created the Office of Missing Persons, that was supposed to investigate and determine the fate of every disappeared person in Sri Lanka.

But with the return of the Rajapaksas to power in November 2019, the expectations of those seeking justice for their loved ones have rapidly dropped again. In January 2020, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa stated that the “missing persons are actually dead,” without providing any basis for this broad-brush conclusion and which was condemned by victim groups, and families of the disappeared. In February 2020, the Sri Lankan government withdrew from its UN commitments, re-installing a climate of fear for the families of the victims of enforced disappearances, who have observed an increase in threats and intimidation for making complains or pursuing justice in recent months.

Ahead of the 45^th session of the Human Rights Council last month, the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances presented its report regarding the current situation in Sri Lanka. The report highlighted that “the relatives of forcibly disappeared individuals as well as others such as witnesses and defence counsels should be protected against any form of intimidation, harassment or ill-treatment.” Furthermore, as outlined in the International Convention on Disappearances, “the Government has the duty to guarantee the rights to form and participate freely in organizations and associations concerned with attempting to establish the circumstances of enforced disappearances and the fate of disappeared persons and to assist victims of enforced disappearances.”

Given Sri Lanka’s long history of enforced disappearance, it is of vital importance that the government abides to its international obligations and that it is prevented from simply dismissing past cases.

This piece is written by GHRD intern Chiara Menghetti.