Statement: Sri Lanka’s National Day of Disappeared Persons
27 October 2015 – Today, marks the 24th year of commemoration of the National Day of the Disappeared Persons in Sri Lanka. Mostly from the Northern and Eastern regions, families and friends of those forcibly disappeared during the country’s armed conflict have been gathering before the Monument for the Disappeared at Raddoluwa Junction to remember their disappeared relatives and demand accountability from the government for its past crimes.
The tradition of commemorating the victims of enforced disappearances can be traced to the killings of H.M Ranjith and M. Lionel that took place in the Raddoluwa Junction in 1989. Families, friends and supporters of the two began to assemble in the junction in October 27, 1991. From a group of seventeen (17), the crowd expanded over the years.
Between 1999-2000, a monument was erected to memorialize the phenomenon of enforced disappearances which has plagued the country since the 1970s. A wall was covered with photos of about 700 victims in order to keep the memories of the victims burning in the hearts and minds not only of the relatives, but also of the entire people of Sri Lanka.
The monument of the disappeared also sought to serve as a reminder of the atrocities committed by the government against the people, and to encourage people to mobilize in preventing such crimes from happening in the future. Through commemoration, families of victims, human rights defenders and civil society in Sri Lanka can become catalysts for its government to assume its duties in the promotion, respect and protection of human rights.
According to the recent report of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (UN WGEID), Sri Lanka has the second highest number of disappearances globally with 5,750 outstanding cases, next to Iraq’s 16,000. It is believed, however, that the actual number of disappearances over the years could be higher.
In the occasion of the 24th anniversary of the National Day of the Disappeared, the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), together with its thirteen (13) member-organizations across ten (10) countries in Asia, would once again wish to express solidarity with the people of Sri Lanka in commemorating the disappeared and in demanding for justice to all victims of enforced disappearances.
AFAD salutes the courage of the families of victims in their continuing quest for justice in the face of threats and harassment from the State. It could be noted that in 2014, Mr. Brito Fernando, Chairperson of the Families of Disappeared, was harassed and threatened allegedly by elements of the State. The monument itself has been subject to defacement by members of the Catholic Church in 2011.
This year, Sri Lanka’s new government has renewed hope for the victims of enforced disappearances. Less than a year into office, the government has already opened up more democratic spaces, and has initiated investigations into past human rights violations. Preceded by a decade of repression and oppression, the new government is the silver lining that promises truth, justice and guarantees of non-recurrence. In the 30th session of the UN Human Rights Council held in Geneva, the Government of Sri Lanka announced that it will ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances. Furthermore, it has invited the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances to visit the country in November 2015.
The current government of President Maitiripala Sirisena must thus prove its commitment to stamp out impunity and bring to justice all perpetrators of enforced disappearances. Past regimes were complicit in obscuring truth and hindering justice. President Sirisena’s government now has the power to end the practice of enforced disappearances, uncover the fate of the disappeared, and prosecute all perpetrators of the crime.
The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances welcomes His Excellency Maithripala Sirisena’s steps towards the promotion, respect and protection of human rights and resolution of past atrocities. The country must now move forward to dismantle repressive and oppressive structures, and the culture of impunity that these perpetuate. A comprehensive transitional justice policy must be created in order to address human rights violations, including enforced disappearances, during the past 30 years and prevent their recurrence.
The AFAD urges the Government of the Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to perform the human rights obligations enshrined in the 1992 Declaration on the Protection of All Persons against Involuntary Disappearances through the following steps:
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Fulfill its official announcement before the UN Human Rights Council to ratify the UN International Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and recognize the competence of the UN committee on enforced disappearances;
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Enact domestic legislation from the provisions of the Convention criminalizing enforced disappearance to put an end to impunity and ensure non-recurrence;
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Establish an independent and transparent commission of inquiry to investigate thousands of cases of enforced disappearances, including those of Prageeth Egnalikoda, Ranjith Herath, M. Lionel, Lalith Weeraraja, Kugan Muruganandan, Ramasamy Prabaharan, Vasanthamala Pathmanathan and 15-year-old boy Sivasooriyakumar Sanaraj and prosecute all those involved no matter what their ranks or positions in the military and the police might be during the past and the present governments, and;
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Find all the disappeared and ensure the safe release of those in custody, and disclose the location of burial sites of those killed.
Finally, AFAD member-organizations from 9 other Asian countries express their solidarity to the families of the disappeared in Sri Lanka and to all civil society organizations as they pay tribute to disappeared loved ones and as they indefatigably search for truth and justice.
Signed by:
KHURRAM PARVEZ
Chairperson
MARY AILEEN D. BACALSO
Secretary-General