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Relatives of missing and political prisoners protest in Jaffna

 

The relatives of Tamil political prisoners and those who have disappeared staged a protest in Jaffna on Monday, demanding to know the whereabouts of their loved ones.


The protestors, who gathered at Jaffna bus station this morning, demanded the release of all political prisons, the abolishment of the Prevention of Terrorism Act and the whereabouts of all missing persons to be documented.

The relatives of the missing in particular demanded that Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe state reveal all information the government has on those who disappeared.

Mr Wickremesinghe told an audience in Jaffna earlier this month that missing people from the Tamil North-East of the island are considered to be dead.

If the prime minister’s comments are true then the people who killed them must be revealed and held to account, stated the protestors.

Mr Wickremesinghe’s comments come just weeks after over 1,620 complaints were lodged before Sri Lanka’s presidential commission into disappearances, which held a sitting in Jaffna.

The protestors also criticised the sittings, stating that since the new Sri Lankan government has assumed power, no further information regarding missing persons has been revealed.

 

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