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An officer attached to Sri Lanka's intelligence unit threatened the families of the disappeared who were protesting at the Mullativu Bus stand yesterday, by harassing them and taking photographs of each person. He went on to chase the protestors demanding they go home.
The families who have been protesting for years stayed calm and undeterred by the officer. They continued to engage in their protest. They told reporters that they were used to being harassed this way but feared repercussions as many of them are old while others have young children under their care. They mentioned feeling intimidated but vowed to continue protesting as they search for their loved ones.
Earlier this week, the head of the Families of the Disappeared Association in Batticaloa was summoned before Sri Lanka's Terrorism Investigation Department. Batticaloa Association of Relatives of the Enforced Disappeared leader Amalaraj Amalanayaki, was instructed to go to the TID office in Kallady, Batticaloa on the 29th of July.
Earlier this year, the Office of the UN High Commission for Human Rights released a report which detailed the harassment faced by the Tamil families of the disappeared.
"Intimidation was reported as being combined with court orders limiting the mobility of the relatives of disappeared persons or restricting their exercise of rights of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, includin the right of access to information," the report stated.
During the last three months, the same TID summoned seven Tamil political activists in the North-East for questioning, a sign the state’s intimidation of activists and rights defenders continues.
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