• An emotional account of an affected parent

By Sarah Hannan It is not easy to come to terms with a person’s death. What’s even more difficult to come to terms with is the disappearance of a person, especially if the family is anxiously waiting for their return even for years. The Sunday Morning spoke to a mother who is waiting for her son’s return, even 21 years since he was reported missing in action (MIA), to understand how she has been able to cope with the void that has been created. Visaka Dharmadasa’s second son was reported MIA on 27 September 1998 when the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) attacked the military base in Kilinochchi. Even after two decades, Visaka is still waiting for authorities to be accountable for all those lives that are missing without a trace. “My son went on duty in July that year and never came home. Just after his disappearance, the Army, even amidst a war, was able to provide us much-needed psychosocial support. They had appointed a separate unit under the Additional Directorate of Welfare headed by Brigadier M.M.D. Lalith Peiris USP to attend to our grievances and were kind enough to continue the dialogue with us.” Furthermore, the Association of War Affected Women chaired by Visaka had been instrumental in making it compulsory for all soldiers to be given dog tags so that they could be identified and traced easily. “In the early years, we had a lot of assistance from the military and the government. It was during former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga’s tenure that we were able to establish the Rana Viru Seva Authority, which in return ensured that the certificates of absence were issued, families were duly compensated, and were able to carry out other legal paperwork to access pensions and benefits owed to the families on behalf of the soldiers who went missing in action.” But with the change of the regime, all support and assistance were curtailed. “With the establishment of the Office on Missing Persons (OMP), we have been able to renew our hopes of tracing our missing family members,” she added. Difficulties in tracing The families of missing persons demanded that they were told the truth. They were really seeking the truth. They wanted the authorities to conduct investigations, call for evidence, visit places from where their loved ones were allegedly abducted, and most importantly, they wanted to prevent further disappearances. Tracing a person who has been missing for decades is no easy feat and the women in her organisation understand it very well, Visaka clarified. She stated that they are all anticipating seeing the face of their loved ones and are entirely depending on the OMP to carry out this difficult task. “We do understand that it is difficult to trace a person who has been missing for a considerably long time, given that evidence is insufficient and there are no witnesses for certain incidents. But it is important that we know the truth.” She also acknowledged that the families of missing persons would naturally have high expectations of the OMP, adding: “All they want is to know that their loved ones are unharmed and would return home any day. With the implementation of this office, we hope that the Government would be able to prevent institutionalised disappearances, locate their whereabouts, or return their remains to the families.” Especially, if an organisation is purposely concealing the whereabouts and status of the person’s wellbeing from the concerned families, the families should be able to take legal action and prevent those incidents from taking place further. Visaka opined that if such an office had been set up after the insurgency in 1971 or during the JVP insurgencies of 1988/89, the country would not have such a large amount of missing persons to be traced. Prisoners of war Recalling an attempt made by former Bishop Rayappu Joseph to send 600 letters to correspond to each prisoner of war who was held in LTTE captivity, Visaka informed that no one seemed to know the whereabouts of these men. “At one time, they said that most of them were sent overseas, but in that case, they should have a record of who they sent to other countries. We are now getting to know that the Government is prosecuting certain individuals over the deaths of soldiers who were held in custody and were allegedly tortured over a long period. We have the right to know who died in custody as one of them could be a missing person.” While her son was reported missing during an active mission, Visaka turned the focus on the civilians who were abducted in broad daylight at the end of the war. She reiterated that when such an incident takes place, where an entire village is huddled into a bus/truck, there would have been witnesses – records of a group of people being transported in government/privately owned vehicles. But no one seems to be willing to provide an account of the incidents. “Such instances make a world of a difference; soldiers missing in action are very different from people who experience enforced disappearances. As for mothers, regardless of whether their children disappeared during an active mission or while walking on the road, they seek answers from the relevant authority. We need a sensitive government and a sensitive president who would take this matter to heart and assist us in tracing our missing family members,” she added. Unexplained disappearances For now, not only Visaka, but many others have to resort to hosting Remembrance Day memorials for their loved ones whose fate they do not know. “When you have a group of people seeking justice for a larger number of missing persons, you get the opportunity to share your story and understand each other’s grief. But when you think about the people who underwent enforced disappearances and their families seeking justice, it can easily take a political turn. There are agencies which use these incidents to further their agenda and the aggrieved families might be unknowingly aiding them with it. These families have to go through a lot more as sometimes the authorities deny them access to information or services provided by law enforcement authorities, especially when there are political powers at play.” Having said that, the wives and mothers of many who underwent enforced disappearances face tremendous social pressure; on the one hand, they want to know what happened to their husbands/sons who were abducted and on the other hand, they are left to fend for themselves and bring up children (if any) amidst a tensed environment. Even though many believe it was purely to take political revenge, some disappearances do not seem to add up. Some families had been contacted by the abductors seeking ransom to release their son or husband, but upon handing over the money, the families had not heard any news, let alone seen them being released. Certificate of absence The Sri Lanka Army had a protocol where they would wait at least seven years from the day the soldier was reported MIA to issue a death certificate. But they too have realised that when the issuance of a death certificate is delayed, the families face challenges in claiming insurance, transferring inheritance, receiving compensation, and/or withdrawing their bank balances. The certificate of absence is, therefore, an important document that would enable families to conduct their necessary paperwork. “We were adamant that the military should not issue a death certificate soon after they record a soldier as MIA. So, with our requests, the death certificate was to record the cause of death as ‘abducted by terrorists and missing in action’. We particularly drafted in the clause to tell the authorities that our questions are unanswered.” Similarly, many civilians too followed suit at the end of the civil war and demanded they are issued a certificate that indicates that their family members were missing due to abductions.

Current legal framework

The process for registering deaths in Sri Lanka is overseen by the Registrar General’s Department, which is operated under the Ministry of Public Administration and Home Affairs. In order to facilitate the registration of cases of enforced disappearance, the Registration of Deaths (Temporary Provisions) Act No. 19 of 2010 permits the registration of deaths of persons missing due to terrorist or subversive activity or civil commotion and allows the provision of death certificates for their families. The certificate issued under the Temporary Provisions Act is essentially the same as a general death certificate. However, there are two main differences. The reason for death is given as “missing for more than a year and believed to be dead” and the certificate states it has been issued under the Act of 2010. In the event the missing person is found alive, the death certificate can be cancelled. This law, although passed with the intention of assisting, unfortunately, imposes an emotional and psychological toll on the relatives of the missing since family members requesting the certificate must assert that they believe the disappeared person to be dead and sign an affidavit swearing such. This places the presumption of death directly on family members. The application procedure for family members wishing to obtain the death certificates under the Temporary Provisions Act involves submitting an application to the divisional secretary (DS) office or directly to the grama niladhari (GN) where the person was last seen or had his permanent residence. If the DS office approves the registration of death, the Registrar General’s Department issues the certificate and the applicant receives the death certificate through the local registrar for births and deaths. (Source: CPA)