It has been a long period of struggle by the mothers of the disappeared even though the war/conflict ended physically in 2009. The mothers and family members of the disappeared persons at Kilinochchi started their protest in April 2016 and marked the 2000 day on 2000 Day on August 12, 2022. The mothers and relatives of the disappeared gathered around the North & East representing the entire families of the disappeared around the North & East. Kilinochchi, Mannar, Mullaitivu, Vavuniya, Jaffna and Batticaloa districts were represented. The demands of the mothers were Justice for the Disappeared persons, especially the International intervention to ensure justice from the International mechanisms since the local and national level mechanisms still finds it difficult to meet justice to the families of the disappeared. The immediate arrest of all war criminals without any partiality and to know the truth of what had happened to their loved ones.
The recommendations given by so-called commissions which have been put forward to collect information from the various stakeholders on the issue have submitted their reports along with the recommendations even then the implementation of the recommendation has been delayed by the governments since 2009. The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) Paranagama President’s Commission and Office of the Missing Persons (OMP). The state mechanisms remain the same even though there are 3 changes in the last 12 years after the war/conflict.
The people from the South also joined the 2000 Day Protest organised by the mothers and have shown their solidarity. The trade union leaders, artists, university students, human rights activists, civil rights activists, and others joined and strengthened the campaign. The disappointment over the current government as it was the same with all the other governments remains among the mothers of the disappeared. The need for a solid engagement and commitment from the government to solve the issue of the enforced disappearance by speaking out the truth about what had happened to their loved ones (who have been enforced to disappearance, who have surrendered with the white flag, who have been surrendered by the families and in families). Even the statistics of the government and the civil society of the disappeared members has a huge gap.
The fight for justice and truth seeking will continue to be the same and be stronger even in future, says one of the mothers who took part in the protest, and 134 mothers have been dead during these 2000 days and it clearly shows how pathetic the situation is for those who died. They have died with the mystery of their beloved’s whereabouts. The seriousness of the issue has not been addressed by the relevant authorities, and those who are in power. There were some politicians who attended the protest this time to support the families of the disappeared along with civil activists, rights activists from around north and east.
Anthony Vinoth – Human Rights Activist