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March for missing persons on Women’s Day

03 Mar 2021

The families of 100 missing persons will commence a protest march in Mullaitivu on 8 March to mark International Women’s Day, The Morning learnt. Speaking to us yesterday (2), an organiser of the march said that the protest is being held on International Women’s Day in recognition of the women – mothers and wives – who have continued their struggle to search for the disappeared. Ministry of Foreign Affairs Secretary (Retd.) Admiral Prof. Jayanath Colombage had said last week that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa would be reaching out to the families of the disappeared for the first time in a bid to find a solution to their problems. The Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) appointed earlier this year to probe the findings made by various previously instituted commissions and committees of inquiry into alleged human rights and humanitarian law violations in connection with the three-decade war, has also been tasked with arriving at an accurate figure for the number of persons who went missing or disappeared during the war. However, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Secretary Admiral Prof. Jayanath Colombage told The Morning in January that the numbers of missing persons that have been published so far have been exaggerated. Meanwhile, Families of the Disappeared organisation President Brito Fernando told The Morning yesterday that since the change of Government in November 2019, the Rs. 6,000 monthly relief to families holding a “Certificate of Absence” for their relatives has been withheld. According to Fernando, the Rs. 6,000 was allocated to families of the disappeared in the 2019 Budget reading, and as of December 2019, 153 families with a “Certificate of Absence” had been paid the allowance, amounting to a total of Rs. 11 million. “Our request has been forwarded by the Ministry of Justice to its Legal Department in January this year. However, since then, the Ministry has not communicated with us regarding this matter,” said Fernando. Fernando urged that the relief be given to needy families of the disappeared, who live in poverty, amidst the pain of searching for their loved ones. Meanwhile, the Parents Collective for the Deceased and Disappeared claimed in a press conference held yesterday that the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) was not giving due attention to the deceased and disappeared as a result of the actions of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during the war. “The UNHRC is corrupt. The Sri Lankan authorities have not properly shown the LTTE’s true nature to the Council. We call upon all countries to reject the resolution that will be moved against our country,” said Secretary to the organisation H.K.D. Chandrasoma. According to Amnesty International, although Sri Lanka has one of the world’s highest number of enforced disappearances, with 60,000-100,000 disappearances since 1980, the authorities have failed to both protect and provide justice to families of the disappeared.


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