ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCE OF PERSONS IN SRI LANKA: LEGACY AND ONGOING CHALLENGES – M.C.M. IQBAL

[Families of the disappeared has been on the street for a long time campaigning for justice (c) sunanda deshapriya, Aug 2016]

05/05/2016

Enforced disappearance of persons remains one of the widely known human rights violations in Sri Lanka. The war that ended in May 2009 took the figure of the alleged abductions and disappearances to alarming proportions. However, the end of the war did not bring such incidents to an end. Whether they would come to a full stop still remains to be seen despite the change in the leadership of the country in 2015. The machinery that had been set up during the past to perpetrate such incidents appears to have slowed down specially as a consequence to the passing of a Resolution at the UNHRC in September, 2015 following a Report of an UN investigation regarding accountability of the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE to human rights violations beginning from February, 2002 till November, 2011. However the machinery could be switched on again if those in authority could shine a green light. The presence of this machinery with its operators still in place is a legacy the current government has to deal with. Dismantling it and destroying the remains, is a challenge the government has to face ignoring the sabre rattling by the extremists in the country.

Disappearances Legacy and Challenges Edited 1 by Thavam Ratna