Enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka
Tens of thousands of people have been
Human rights groups such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Asian Human Rights Commission have documented many of the disappearances and attributed them to the Sri Lankan security forces, pro-government paramilitary groups and Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups.[4][5]
In 2016, the government under president Maithripala Sirisena agreed to issue a certificate of absence to relatives of over 65,000 that went missing during the civil war and the marxist uprising allowing them to temporarily manage the property and assets of missing people, to obtain provisional guardianship of their children and apply for government welfare schemes.[6] Further the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) a proposal by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was created in the same year[7][8]
In 2020, president Gotabaya Rajapaksa confirmed that the missing people from the civil war are actually dead. [9]
Background
Sri Lanka has a history of disappearances, both during the Sri Lankan Civil War and the
White van abductions
Many Tamil nationalists claim there was a resurgence of abductions in 2005 after the failure of Norwegian mediated peace process.[12] The victims of the abductions were predominantly Sri Lankan Tamils living in Jaffna and Colombo.[13][14][15] A notable feature in the abductions is the use of white vans without number plates. White van abductions were a part of life in Jaffna and the abductions were carried with impunity even during curfew hours in this period.[15][16][17]
Several youth were also abducted in Colombo by white vans in 2008. The families of the victims accused the then navy commander and Gotabhaya Rajapaksa of the abductions.[18]
Then president
See also
- Allegations of State terrorism by Sri Lanka
- Human rights in Sri Lanka
- War crimes in Sri Lanka
References
- ^ a b "Sri Lanka's disappeared thousands". BBC News. 28 March 1999.
- ^ "Hope for Sri Lanka's disappeared". BBC News. 19 February 2003.
- ^ "'Sri Lanka: Refusing to Disappear'" (PDF). Amnesty International.
- ^ "ASA 37/024/1997 Government's response to widespread "disappearances" in Jaffna". Amnesty International. 27 November 1997. Archived from the original on 9 August 2009.
- ^ "Sri Lanka: 'Disappearances' by Security Forces a National Crisis". Human Rights Watch. 6 March 2008.
- ^ "Sri Lanka admits 65,000 missing from war, insurrection". Reuters India. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
- ^ "Office on Missing Persons is to seek the truth: Prime Minister". www.ft.lk. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
- ^ "Sri Lanka's Proposed Office of Missing Persons: Mandate and Powers | Sri Lanka Brief". srilankabrief.org. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
- ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
- ^ SRI LANKA: White vans without number plates; the symbol of disappearances reappear
- ^ Specter of abductions returns to Sri Lanka
- S2CID 56389605.
- ^ "Sri Lanka rapped over 'disappeared'". BBC. 6 March 2008. Retrieved 7 July 2008.
Sri Lanka's government is one of the world's worst perpetrators of enforced disappearances, US-based pressure group Human Rights Watch (HRW) says. An HRW report accuses security forces and pro-government militias of abducting and "disappearing" hundreds of people - mostly Tamils - since 2006.
- ^ "Fears grow over Tamil abductions". BBC. 26 September 2006. Retrieved 7 July 2008.
The image of the "white van" invokes memories of the "era of terror" in the late 1980s when death squads killed or forcibly disappeared 30,000 to 60,000 Sinhalese youths believed to support the JVP. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) says the "white van culture" is now re-appearing in Colombo to threaten the Tamil community.
- ^ a b ""Disappearances" on rise in Sri Lanka's dirty war". The Boston Globe. 15 May 2006. Archived from the original on 2 February 2009. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
- ^ BBC White van 'terrorises' Jaffna
- ^ "Sri Lanka's sinister white van abductions". BBC News. 14 March 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
- ^ "Have they been killed or hidden?". Retrieved 12 July 2017.
- ^ "Rajapaksa's brother probed over killings". www.aljazeera.com. Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
- ^ "Only criminals are abducted by white vans – Gota". Lankatruth.com. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
External links
- Black, Laura (1999). "Forced Disappearances in Sri Lanka Constitute a Crime Against Humanity".
- Lanka News White Van Death Squad exposed