3 years outdated when Disappeared
8 Months outdated when Disappeared
10 years outdated when Disappeared
School Students when Disappeared
Tamil Mothers Seeking their Disappeared Babies Protest Outside UN in Colombo
” UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances Stated in 2020 that the Second Highest Number of Enforced Disappearance Cases in the World is From Sri Lanka. “
— Tamil Mothers of the Disappeared
COLOMBO, SRI LANKA, October 17, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — Hundreds of Weeping Tamil Mothers of the Disappeared protested in the Sri Lankan Capital Colombo outdoors UN, in search of to discover the whereabouts of their infants and different family members. Babies as younger as eight months outdated even have disappeared. Even although a number of Tamil infants and youngsters disappeared, a gaggle documented data of 29 of them with images and age.
https://english.theleader.lk/news/564-tamil-mothers-mark-children-s-day-with-list-of-kids-taken-away-by-military
“Some of the babies who have disappeared must be around 14 years old by now, we constantly worry about their wellbeing.” Said distraught moms.
Thousands of Tamils Disappeared and the UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances said in 2020 that the second highest quantity of enforced disappearance instances in the world is from Sri Lanka.
https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G20/202/90/PDF/G2020290.pdf?OpenElement
These Tamil moms got here from North and East of the island, braving intimidation and harassment by the Security Forces and Intelligence businesses.
They submitted an attraction to UN Resident coordinator Hanaa Singer, urging UN to Appoint an International Investigative Team of Eminent Persons to Find out about the whereabouts of their family members and produce them again, in addition to to determine the political and army leaders liable for the disappearances over the years.
** Several Presidents have been in energy throughout these massive scale disappearances, together with Gothabaya Rajapaksa, Mahinda Rajapaksa, Maithripala Sirisena and Chanthrika Kumaratunga.
** Noted army leaders embody Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka and General Shavendra Silva.
Watch: https://fb.watch/gcHu1kXew4/
BELOW, PLEASE FIND THE APPEAL TO THE UN:
From: Association for Relatives of the Enforced Disappearances North & East
1) INTRODUCTION:
Thousands of Tamils together with infants and youngsters have disappeared by Sri Lankan safety forces. Many of us additionally handed over our family members to them in May 2009 believing the authorities’s phrase that they are going to be launched after swift investigation. Thirteen years have handed and nonetheless not a phrase about their plight they usually have grow to be “disappeared.”
Some of the infants who’ve disappeared have to be round 14 years outdated by now. We consistently fear about their wellbeing and different family members who disappeared.
The UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances said in 2020 that the second highest quantity of enforced disappearance instances in the world is from Sri Lanka.
2) OUR APPEAL TO SUCESSIVE GOVERNMENTS AND OUR PEACEFUL PROTESTS:
We met successive Government leaders to plead with them to hand our family members again to us or at the least inform us about their plight.
Since none of the appeals to the Government have been listened to, for over the final 5 and a half years (2,000 days), we constantly are holding peaceable protests in totally different locations in the North & East of this nation. Our peaceable protests and starvation strikes have been brutally suppressed by the massive quantity of Security forces stationed in Tamil areas. Many of the troops who’re stationed in Tamil areas are the identical ones who’re liable for disappearing our family members. Despite this intimidating setting, we’re persevering with our protests. As of now 132 of our moms who participated in our protests have handed away.
3) GOVERNMENT’s DECEIVING TACTIC BY FORMING OFFICE OF MISSING PERSONS (OMP):
While on one hand the Government makes use of its Security forces to intimidate us and on the different hand they took steps to deceive us and the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) by establishing the Office of Missing Persons (OMP) in response to Human Rights Council Resolution 30/1. However, since its operationalization in September 2017, it has grow to be obvious that there was no sincere intention to serve the households of the disappeared. Its title “Office of Missing Persons” implies the individuals in query went lacking when, in truth, they have been victims of enforced disappearance by the state.
On twentieth May2021, former Police Chief Jayantha Wickramaratne, in-charge of three police items allegedly concerned in mass disappearances at the finish of the armed battle, was appointed as a member of the OMP.
4) OFFICE OF REPARATIONS – AN INSULT TO OUR LOVED ONES:
In 2018 Sri Lanka established the Office for Reparations. We strongly rejected this initiative and take into account this an insult to put a financial worth on our family members lives. We additionally take into account this as an try to bribe us to silence us.
5) UN’s RESPONSE TO OMP:
Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in her June 2021 report said the latest appointments to the OMP and the Office of Reparation have been discouraging victims belief and hampering investigations into disappearances.
6) TO GET JUSTICE REFER SRI LANKA TO INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT (ICC):
We additionally consider that justice might be achieved solely by means of an unbiased worldwide accountability course of. As the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said in her 2021 February report, the state of affairs in Sri Lanka ought to be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Her suggestion was endorsed by all earlier Human Rights Commissioners, eleven former UN Special Rapporteurs who visited Sri Lanka and wrote studies and all the members of the UN Secretary General's Panel of Experts on Sri Lanka.
7) APPOINT AN INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATIVE TEAM TO FIND THE WHEREABOUTS OF OUR BABIES & LOVED ONES AND BRING THEM BACK:
As moms of the disappeared we strongly consider that solely means to discover the whereabouts of our family members is to appoint a global investigative staff of eminent individuals to independently examine to discover the whereabouts of our disappeared Babies and family members and produce them again.
Thank you.
Association for Relatives of the Enforced Disappearances North & East
October 17, 2022
Contact:
Leela Ananthan
Secretary
Phone: +94 (77) 886 4360
Email: [email protected]
Video: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ui=2&ik=a284a0ae01&attid=0.1&permmsgid=msg-f:1746907375209041184&th=183e430092d84d20&view=att&disp=safe
Leela Ananthan
Tamil Mothers of the Disappeared
+94 77 886 4360
[email protected]
