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Marking the international day of the disappeared, US Ambassador Julie Chung issued a statement claiming to stand in solidarity with families of the disappeared and commended the work of civil society groups pushing for an end to enforced disappearances.
On #InternationalDayoftheDisappeared, I stand in solidarity w/ families & victims and commend efforts by civil society groups & individuals working to #endenforceddisappearances. Sri Lankans deserve transparency & answers from their government as to the fate of their loved ones.
— Ambassador Julie Chung (@USAmbSL) August 30, 2022
Her statement follows over 2,000 days of protest by the Tamil Families of the Disappeared, who have continued their campaign for justice despite constant intimidation and harassment from Sri Lanka’s security forces.
UN resident coordinator in Sri Lanka, Hanaa Singer-Hamdy, similarly tweeted that today we “remember the many families and communities suffering, not knowing the fate of their loved ones”.
The International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances highlights the need to prevent #enforceddisappearances. Today, we also remember the many families and communities suffering, not knowing the fate of their loved ones.https://t.co/ZsA7YOWcRP
— Hanaa Singer-Hamdy (@SingerHanaa) August 30, 2022
“I have met with many families of the missing from across Sri Lanka. For them, the uncertainty as to the fate of a loved one continues to be a painful reality that is raw and fresh. They relentlessly ask for answers to the whereabouts of their loved ones. Without answers, they suffer every day, wavering between hope and despair. In their search for truth and justice, they too have often been victimised” she added.
In her statement, she stressed that “more needs to be done to win the confidence of the families of victims and families of victims of enforced disappearances”.
Despite years of protest, Sri Lanka has failed to provide an answer to the thousands of Tamils who disappeared nor hold the military figures’ response for their disappearance accountable. In 2016, Sri Lanka’s current President Ranil Wickramasinghe sparked outrage as he twice claimed that the thousands of Tamils that surrendered during the final phase of the armed conflict or were forcibly disappeared Tamils were “most probably dead”.
He offered no explanation as to who killed them or why they had died.
In 2019, he told Tamils to “forget the past and move forward” at an event in Kilinochchi.
Since the beginning of the protests, 138 parents have passed away without knowing the truth about their disappeared children.
Read the full UN statement here.