During his visit to Jaffna, the US embassy's deputy chief of mission, Doug Sonnek, met with the Families of the Disappeared and Tamil politicians from across the North-East.
Tamil Families of the Disappeared have protested for over 2,000 days to demand an account for their loved ones who forcibly disappeared by the Sri Lankan military. An estimated 138 protesters have died without knowing the fate of their loved ones.
The US embassy marked the meeting stating on Twitter:
Families of the disappeared still seek answers about their loved ones’ whereabouts years on, they told #DCMSonnek this afternoon. The US stands w these families to encourage transparency & results so they can find solace & justice. pic.twitter.com/APrtwukB0Y
— U.S. Embassy Colombo (@USEmbSL) October 25, 2022
During his visit to Jaffna, Sonnek also met with Tamil political representatives from the Tamil National Federation and the All Sri Lankan Tamil Congress. In separate meetings, he met with Sivagnanam Sritharan, Dharmalingam Siddharthan, Northern Provincial Council Chairman, C.V.K.Sivagnanam and the All Sri Lankan Tamil Congress Members of Parliament Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, Selvarasa Gajendran, Lawyer Kanakaratnam Suhas and Vasuki Sudhakar.
Repeatedly, Tamil politicians have called on the United States to refer Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court.
Read more below:
‘Sri Lanka must be referred to the ICC’ – CV Wigneswaran speaks with Tamil Guardian
Tamil political leaders demand UN resolution on Sri Lanka includes referral to ICC
‘Steps must be towards an ICC referral’ - MA Sumanthiran speaks with Tamil Guardian
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