Deputy Head of Mission Thorsten Bargfrede noted the dispute intake box is a simple yet approachable method for the public to hand in complaints, & could encourage others to come forward. The project is part of @EU_in_Sri_Lanka support to strengthening justice and the rule of law. https://t.co/QmA1bQosyz
— EU in Sri Lanka (@EU_in_Sri_Lanka) March 9, 2022
Deputy head of the European Union in Sri Lanka Thorsten Bargfrede launched a “dispute intake box” with the Sri Lanka ministry of justice amidst widespread protests across Sri Lanka by Tamil families of the disappeared demanding to know the fate of their loved ones.
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Read more here: In Pictures - Tamil women mark International Women’s Day with protests across island
The EU mission in Sri Lanka lauded the achievement as a “simple yet approachable method for the public to hand in complaints, & could encourage others to come forward”.
It follows a scathing report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights which detailed the increasing harassment of civil society organisations and militarisation of the state.
During the UN Human Rights Council, the Core Group recognised the crackdown on civil society stating:
"Our concerns over surveillance and intimidation of civil society persist and detentions, threats and intimidation of journalists and human rights defenders continue. It is crucial that civic space remains open."
A recent report from Amnesty International highlights the “deteriorating human rights situation” in which Sri Lankan authorities have harassed, intimidated, and violated the civil liberties of families of the disappeared, who have been failed by Sri Lankan mechanisms on promises of delivering justice.
5 years since their protests began Tamil families of the disappeared have not received justice. Several have died awaiting an answer to what happened to their loved ones.