UN body to probe Sri Lanka on enforced disappearances on Friday
COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s long, painful history of disappearances will once again come under international scrutiny when the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) reviews the country on Friday (26), in Geneva.
The review, scheduled for two public sessions from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. (Geneva time), will assess how far Sri Lanka has complied with its obligations under the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
According to the Committee, the dialogue with the Sri Lankan delegation will focus on questions raised in its ‘List of Issues’, a set of concerns sent after the government submitted its periodic report. These include the fate of 14,988 complaints lodged with the Office on Missing Persons, which was established in 2017 but has faced repeated criticism from victims’ families for failing to deliver meaningful justice.
Other issues likely to dominate the discussions are the legal barriers that prevent military authorities from being investigated or prosecuted for enforced disappearances, as well as whether credible complaints have been lodged concerning the disappearance of members of the Tamil minority during and after the civil war; the disappearance of protesters during the mass demonstrations that erupted in Colombo in March 2022 and spread across the island amid an economic crisis; and enforced disappearances allegedly carried out during the internal armed conflict between 1983 and 2009, in which tens of thousands are believed to have vanished.
For decades, the issue of the disappeared has haunted Sri Lanka, cutting across communities and generations. Families of the missing – particularly in the north and east – have staged continuous protests, demanding answers about their loved ones. Despite multiple commissions and promises, they say truth and accountability remain elusive.
The Committee’s public dialogue with the Sri Lankan delegation will be broadcast live on UNTV, giving victims’ families, rights groups, and the wider public an opportunity to follow the proceedings.
Comprehensive details of the review, including Sri Lanka’s state party report and submissions by civil society organizations, have been published on the Committee’s session webpage.
-ENCL
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