Disappearances

President’s humbug commission would not be allowed to conceal mass murders at Matale, despite various commissions have been appointed, people have not heard of any reports of those commissions nor anyone punished for their crimes and the party would never believe justice would be done by such commissions that have been cast to the garbage […]

Missions sons: will Gotabhaya answer? A grieving mother of two teenage sons who were abducted by the Army in 1989, narrates how she was stopped and sent back when she went to meet then Military Coordinating Officer (MCO) for Matale, Lt. Col. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. By Ranga JayasuriyaThe two teenage sons of K.G. Kamalawathi were snatched […]

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) established a special committee yesterday to collect details of its members who had gone missing between the years, 1987-90, in the Matale District and requested the families to come forward with the information, in order to identify the perpetrators.A team, under the leadership of a former JVP Provincial Council member, […]

SF: for an Internal investigation Former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka says a proper domestic mechanism should be in place to address accountability issues to ward off pressure for an international investigation.Speaking to the Colombo Gazette after addressing the media today, Fonseka also said that the government cannot lean on countries like China and sideline other […]

Mahinda Rajapaksha in early 1990s campaigning for justice of the disappeared Make a decisive move on mass grave – Editorial, Ceylon Today This newspaper covered in disturbing detail, the discovery of a mass grave in the backyard of the Matale Hospital, and the gory revelations that emerged subsequently, which were made in two specialist reports […]

Text and Pix Dushiyanthini KanagasabapatipillaiWomen in the North and East were pushed to bear a double burden, after the men in the families were killed by the war, disappeared, surrendered or were detained during and after the end of the war. BW3311304 “My son is a fisherman and has been missing since 2008 from Mannar” […]

The country’s rights record has also been marred by charges of extra-judicial killings in the 1970s and 1980 A mass grave found in Sri Lanka with over 150 skeletal remains dates back to a time when thousands of people disappeared during a crackdown on Marxist rebels, a forensics expert said Thursday.Raj Somadeva said he had […]

Unending wait for relatives of the disappeared After the final war occurred between the Liberation tigers and government troops in Sri Lanka, those surrendered to the military and after getting lost, five persons concerning this have filed habeas corpus petition at the Vavuniya high court.Court ordered the 58th battalion chief officer located in Mullaitheevu and […]

The UN’s human rights body has angered Sri Lanka by voting on a new resolution that calls on the island’s government to fully investigate civilian killings in its recent conflict and expresses growing concern over continuing atrocities. But while officials in Colombo insist they are striving to account for the civil war violence and are […]

Sri-Lanka_130315 ISHARA S.KODIKARA/AFP/Getty Images/Newscom The United States recently introduced its second United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution on Sri Lanka, calling attention to the government’s alleged violations of international human rights law.The resolution supports reconciliation efforts and requires government investigation into allegations of human rights abuses and indiscriminate killings of Tamil civilians that allegedly […]

Download the report in full here, or view in inline here.The Social ArchitectsIntroductionNearly four years since the end of the country’s civil war, Sri Lanka remains a divided, post-war society, as the ethnic conflict burns on. It has been fifteen months since the Final Report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) was made […]

Observations389. The Working Group regrets that no response was received from the Government to its general allegation on 4 May 2011, concerning serious obstacles encountered in the implementation of the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances in Sri Lanka during the last phase of the war against the Liberation Tigers of […]

A mother holding to loaf of Bread distributed as dinner after they were forced to leave their buses heading for Colombo ”On March 5th, 2013, at about 8.30pm, the Police blocked about 600 persons, comprising families of the disappeared and civil society activists from the North, from traveling from Vavuniya to Colombo to attend a […]

On March 5th, 2013, at about 8.30pm, the Police blocked about 600 persons, comprising families of the disappeared and civil society activists from the North  WATCHDOG Editors note: See our earlier report, Police impeding the movement of Tamils.]March 5th, 2013, Vavuniya On March 5th, 2013, at about 8.30pm, the Police blocked about 600 persons, comprising […]

Distressed parents held up photos of their missing children at the protest The families of people who disappeared in Sri Lanka during and after the country’s long civil war have staged a demonstration in the capital Colombo. The rally was mostly on behalf of Tamil people. Many protesters were prevented by the authorities from attending, […]