TGTE Prime Minister Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran sent a letter to the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
“urging it to compel the Sri Lankan state to publicize the list of LTTE members who were made to surrender to the Sri Lankan Army, including babies and children who surrendered along with their families.”
In his letter, Rudrakumaran noted that:
“yesterday also marked the 80th anniversary of the Auschwitz liberation, and the mantra “Never Again” has not yet materialized—enforced disappearance has been and continues to be used in parts of the world as a tool of genocide.”
“He also urged Working Group to urge Sri Lankan state to revoke its reservation of Article 31 of the Convention on Enforced Disappearance and Bring closure to the families of the disappeared in the form of truth and accountability for enforced disappearances.”
Rudrakumaran also noted that we still do not know what happened to Rev. Father Joseph, the LTTE combatants, and their families including babies and children taken at the end of the war—quoting Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard:
“Men who may have been soldiers for the LTTE often surrendered with their entire families and the entire family has disappeared. That means young children and babies. I think the Sri Lankans need to ask where are the babies, where are the children? I have seen photos of four-month-old, ten-month-old babies…”
To me it is “unforgivable not to have an answer for those children and babies who were caught at the end of the war; people who surrendered willingly. ” “They were not arrested in the formal way of the word. They went to the army and said we are surrendering and these are the ones who disappeared”. s aid [https://groundviews.org/2024/05/20/addressing-sri-lankas-complex-human-rights-issues]
The letter also noted that “in the island of Sri Lanka, enforced disappearance has been used not only to eliminate individuals who campaign for the realization of the right to self-determination in the form of an independent state but also as a tool of genocide.”
“Tamil mothers have protested the lack of action and accountability for years, with many going to their graves uncertain of what happened to their children.” said Rudrakumaran.
Rudrakumaran “cited Prof. Phillipe Sands’ argument before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the case of the Bosnian Genocide: that the mental anguish and trauma caused to the families of the disappeared may constitute evidence of genocide.”
The letter further “stated that while Sri Lanka ratified the Convention on Enforced Disappearance and made it part of domestic law, they made reservation to Article 31—which allows victims to seek justice by bringing their complaints to the committee appointed under the convention—thus compromising the force of the Convention.”
The letter concluded by noting that “not a single Sri Lankan state perpetrator has been brought to justice or even arrested in cases of Tamil victimization because the Sri Lankan polity is permeated with pervasive and entrenched racism.”
Rudrakumaran further stated that “This is demonstrated by the absence of any meaningful action in spite of change in government—including the current National People’s Power (NPP) government which came to power a few months ago. As such, the Tamil Mothers of the Disappeared have declared February 4th (Sri Lanka’s Independence Day) as a Black Day.”
Enclosed with the letter are the “Disappeared Tamil Babies of Sri Lanka” booklet and the International Truth and Justice Project’s list of surrendered Tamils who were subjected to enforced disappearance at the end of the war. (einpresswire.com)
