Tamil families of the disappeared marked six years of continuous protest in Kilinochchi today as their campaign to know the fate of their forcibly disappeared loved ones continues.
The families clutched photographs of their disappeared relatives and raised black flags as they marched through Kilinochchi amidst the heavy presence of the Sri Lankan police.
In February 2017, the Tamil families of the disappeared began their roadside protests in Kilinochchi which quickly spread across the North-East.
The families have been calling on the international community to investigate the disappearances of their family members as domestic mechanisms such as the Office of Missing Persons (OMP) which have failed to provide justice and accountability. The families have repeatedly expressed their lack of confidence in the mechanism but continues to be lauded by Sri Lanka as an effective tool to investigate the disappearances. It has been seven years since the OMP opened and not a single case has been investigated and solved.
Since the beginning of their protests, the families of the disappeared have maintained three key demands:
1. Release a list of surrendees from the final phase of the armed conflict;
2. Release the yearly lists of detainees under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) since 1978;
3. Investigate and release the list of all past and present secret detention centres.
Although the families have been subjected to intimidation, surveillance and even violence by the state's forces, they have been relentless in campaigning for justice.
Six years have passed since the protests began in Kilinochchi but the Sri Lankan state have failed to provide any answers on the fate of their relatives.
