.jpg)
Selvarani Thambirasa, the head of the Association for Enforced Disappearances (AERD) in Amparai, spoke out about her interrogation at the hands of the Sri Lankan police last week, where she was accused of helping to regroup the LTTE.
Selvarani has been at the forefront of efforts to locate victims of enforced disappearances, and this is not the first time she has faced such intimidation. Sri Lankan authorities, particularly intelligence services and police, have routinely harassed and intimidated members of organizations like AERD, along with their families.
Listen to her own words, with English subtitles, via Lankafiles below. Full translated transcript below.
"They talk about finding justice for those who disappeared before coming to power, but after they gain power, they show their true colours."#Tamil mother grilled by #SriLanka anti-terror police over 'spearheading moves to resurrect the LTTE" speaks of her ordeal. [SUBTILES] pic.twitter.com/HFb11ChOD8
— LankaFiles (@lankafiles) October 14, 2024
It is being alleged the LTTE is re-emerging in India and France, and that I am acting as a leader in Sri Lanka. They claim that the LTTE movement is resurfacing, and that I am supporting it from Sri Lanka.
I told them “Come here little brother, I am 53 years old now, and I will turn 54 on the 24th of December. I don’t even have the strength to do walk and do my own work, so how can I help restart the LTTE in this situation? You are the one saying that you destroyed them…”
He asked me if I had helped them. I replied, “No, sir, I didn’t do that. Nothing like that.”
Then he asked, “Are you searching for the LTTE war heroes and LTTE members among the missing people?” I responded, “They are heroes. We perform pujas and light lamps to remember them.”
“We are searching for the children and people who were handed over by their families or taken during the final war. We are not searching for our war heroes. They are dead.”
He then asked, “What is your ideal?” I responded, “to tell the truth to our people and seek justice.” He asked, “is this for all three ethnicities?”. I replied, “Yes, all three ethnicities want justice. No one should be made to disappear.” I emphasised that “everyone is human.”
Their question was whether we would support punishments if the missing persons were found. I said “Yes, they should be punished.”
You are still holding LTTE members as political prisoners, saying they have made a mistake. You’ve kept them locked up for years. Only if the wrongdoers are punished will they truly repent. Otherwise, those who made five people disappear will think, “What is the government going to do to us?”. And they could make fifty people disappear in a single day. They need to be punished sir. They must understand the consequences of their actions.
We did not ask for them to be killed. They need to understand what punishment is and the value of life. Right now, it’s just scaremongering.
The government and the president are all the same. No matter how many times the government changes, we will not get a good solution. They talk about finding justice for those who disappeared before coming to power, but after they gain power, they show their true colours. They waste time claiming that they are investigating. We don’t trust anyone. He has been doing a lot of work in this government.
We strongly condemn their investigation of us.
