Tamil families of the disappeared to mark the day of the disappeared

by admin
Aug 27, 2024

The Families of the missing person associations have announced that they would carry out a protest in Kilinochchi on August 30, to coincide with the International Day of the Disappeared. 

The head of the association held a media briefing in Jaffna this week where they announced a collective decision to stage a protest. “We will begin our protest on the 30th morning at 9:30 am in from of the Kilinochchi Kandaswamy Temple and will initiate a protest march and will finally read out a letter that they wish to hand over to the United Nations Human Rights Council. 

They have also invited political parties, civil societies, university students, and associations to participate and render their support to the protest. 

According to the UN report in 1996, 11,513 people were reported as disappeared. According to the report of the Asian Human Rights Commission in 1996, there were 16,742 missing persons. However, Sri Lankan human rights activists believe this number might be double. 

Tamil families of the disappeared have been protesting across the North-East since February 2017 to find out the truth about their loved ones who have forcibly disappeared at the hands of the Sri Lankan state. Many of those who were forcibly disappeared, were handed over to the state's security forces at the end of the armed conflict in May 2009. To this day, Sri Lanka has failed to investigate the disappearances and provide answers to the families. 

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