Police push back Tamil mothers as they protest against Sri Lanka’s president

Tamil families of the disappeared marched through Vavuniya this morning, as they demonstrated against Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s visit to the North-East accusing him of being responsible for the disappearance of their loved ones.

Relatives of the disappeared had rallied to Vavuniya University, where Rajapaksa was attending an opening ceremony.

As the Tamil women reached closer to the new campus, Sri Lankan police officers were deployed to hold them back amongst a heavy security presence.

Tamil families of the disappeared across the North-East have called for the Sri Lankan president to be tried before the International Criminal Court for genocide.

Rajapaksa previously served as Sri Lanka’s defence secretary, during which he oversaw a military offensive that killed tens of thousands of Tamils and saw hospitals shelled, widespread sexual violence and executions.

Examining different sources, including from the United Nations, census figures and World Bank data, the International Truth and Justice Project Sri Lanka (ITJP) found that the highest estimate of those killed during that final phase could be as large as 169,796.

The former US Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Stephen Rapp revealed last year that admitted to killing LTTE leaders instead of arresting or putting them on trial after surrender, during an offensive that saw tens of thousands of Tamils massacred.

See the clip of Rapp speaking on the encounter below.

In 2022, Rajapaksa told the United Nations’ resident co-ordinator on the island that the thousands of forcibly disappeared and missing Tamils “are actually dead”, in a widely condemned declaration.

“The government that was in power then is now in power again,” said Mullaitivu district head for the families of the disappeared Mariyasuresh Easwari at the time. “The same government that told us ‘come with white flags, we will release your children’ are the same government in power now.”

“Children were taken away and disappeared during his time,” added co-ordinator for the protesting families of the disappeared in Mannar, Immanuel Uthyachandra at the time, referring to Rajapaksa.

“If there are no missing relatives, he knows where they are. What happened to them? He knows what they did.”

^{A collage of some of the disappeared LTTE leaders, clergy and children who surrendered to the Sri Lankan military in 2009.}