Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Families of people missing in Sri Lanka's civil war march in silence

Published 08/30/2016, 12:04 PM
Updated 08/30/2016, 12:20 PM
Families of people missing in Sri Lanka's civil war march in silence

Families of people missing in Sri Lanka's civil war march in silence

Human rights activists and families of missing people rallied in Sri Lanka on Tuesday (August 30) in support of an office recently set up to independently investigate the cases of thousands of people who vanished during the government's long conflict with Tamil Tiger rebels.

The march marks International Day Against Forced Disappearances and comes a day ahead of U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's three-day visit.

Protesters marched silently through the streets of the capital Colombo, later gathering at a busy intersection holding up placards and banners supporting the Office Of Missing Person (OMP).

The U.N. Human Rights Commission last year urged the government to investigate disappearances including those of people who were alleged to have been secretly abducted by state-backed groups and paramilitaries during the 26-year conflict which ended seven years ago.

Sri Lanka agreed last year to establish a credible judicial process involving foreign judges and prosecutors to investigate alleged war crimes during the conflict with Tamil rebels, in line with United Nations recommendations.

"The tragedy of the issue of missing persons is that the crime is not only about that person but the future of their families, especially the future of women," said Nimalka Fernando, a human rights activist at the march.

Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa's government rejected the U.N. recommendations citing that it wanted to address human rights concerns without international pressure. Rajapaksa was unseated in January last year and become an opposition legislator after he lost his prime ministerial bid in August.

Juan E. Mendez, a U.N. human right expert, said earlier this year that estimates of the numbers of missing people ranged from 16,000 to 22,000 from the time of the conflict and its immediate aftermath.

Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, a former president and head of the new government's reconciliation office, told journalists recently that an estimated 65,000 people are thought to have gone missing in the conflict since 1983.

V OLUSWORLD Reuters US Online Report World News 20160830T160353+0000

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.