PEARL expresses solidarity with families of disappeared
COLOMBO— People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL) expressed its solidarity with the Tamil families of victims of enforced disappearances from the 1980s and during the entirety of the country’s armed conflict, noting there were an estimated 60,000 to 100,00 disappearances during this period.
In a statement issued to mark International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances observed on Sunday (30), the non-profit organization led by Tamil human rights activists concerned about the situation in Sri Lanka said, families of the disappeared had organized large protests in the towns of Jaffna and Batticaloa, despite an increasing clampdown on dissent by the Sinhala-Buddhist nationalist government.
The statement said the families had also released a set of demands including: the release of any information on all currently detained political prisoners, information on all those who were kidnapped and/or kept in refugee camps before and after the war, and the immediate release of any prisoner currently being detained.
“For too long, the plight of the families of the disappeared has been used as a talking point and a prop for politicians and the international community, but no concrete measures have been taken,” the statement quoted PEARL’s Executive Director, Tasha Manoranjan, as saying. She also noted that the international community had contributed to the destruction of Tamil lives and Tamil aspirations in 2009 and urged, “It is now time for the same international community to meet the demands of the families of the disappeared.”
PEARL also noted that the families of the victims had began their protest in Kilinochchi, more than 1200 days ago in 2017, and have held constant vigil since, demanding answers from the government, the United Nations, and the international community. At least 73 family members have died in pursuit of the truth, it pointed out.
-ENCL