Defence Ministry denies allegations by HRW on keeping missing person’s families on its radar

The Defence Ministry vehemently denied the accusations by the Human Rights Watch (HRW), which claimed that families of enforced disappearance and activists supporting them are under the microscope of the Sri Lankan Security Forces and intelligence agencies, a statement from the Ministry said. 

The HRW releasing its new report has claimed ‘Sri Lankan Security Forces and intelligence agencies have intensified surveillance and threats against families of victims of enforced disappearance and activists supporting them since Gotabaya Rajapaksa became the President in November 2019’.  

Defence Secretary Maj. Gen. Kamal Gunaratne denying the allegations said apart from operating routine security network, the Security Forces and intelligence agencies were not engaged in monitoring any specific group of people.  “They are not focusing any of those relatives of missing persons and we have not used any of the intelligence segments of the armed forces or the police to keep a tab on those families,” he said.  

The Defence Secretary said the Security Forces and the Police were kept on high alert to ensure national security but not targeting any specific group of people in Sri Lanka.  

According to the HRW, activists working in six locations in the north and east with the relatives of the forcibly disappeared have told the HRW that there has been a significant increase in Government surveillance and intimidation. “Especially, we do not keep an eye on the relatives of missing persons or intimidate them,” he said.