Deliver justice, truth and reparation to families of the disappeared: Amnesty

Following the announcement of the release of a list of complaints and information received by the Office on Missing Persons regarding people who were disappeared during Sri Lanka’s internal conflicts, the country’s authorities must now deliver justice, truth and reparation to the families, Amnesty International said today.

On 26 November 2020, the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) released a list of “missing persons” to its offices. The list includes those who are unaccounted for either in connection with the conflict in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, due to civil or political unrest,  have been subject to enforced disappearance, or personnel of the armed forces, or police who have been identified as Missing In Action. The OMP has a mandate to collate data related to “missing persons” obtained by various past processes and to receive any new complaints.

“The long overdue release of this list is an important first step for the families that have waited years to learn of the fate of relatives they have not seen or heard from since the conflict. The Sri Lankan authorities must now initiate investigations into the circumstances of their disappearance, identify anyone suspected of criminal responsibility for their fate, and, where there is sufficient admissible evidence, prosecute them in fair trials before ordinary civilian courts and without recourse to death penalty,” said David Griffiths, Director of the Office of Amnesty International’s Secretary General.

The release of the list comes as families of the disappeared have been petitioning the new Sri Lankan government – elected last year – to extend relief payments to them. Under the OMP’s recommendations, families had begun to receive LKR 6,000 (approximately 27 EUR) per month as a living allowance to ease the straitened circumstances they have endured with the disappearance of their relatives, including many individuals who were the sole income earners within those families. But the payments, which are just one of the several forms of reparation, were only reaching a limited number of affected families before being stopped altogether by the current government. Earlier this month, Amnesty International called on the government to commit funds in the 2021 budget to support the transitional justice process for victims of conflict.

“The Sri Lankan government should commit funds to resume and extend relief payments to all families that have been affected by the disappearance of a relative, as they have been calling for. A disappearance of the main income earner can often mean financial ruin for a family. They have also spent considerable sums of money that they cannot afford to in their years-long search for answers. For all that they have suffered, a modest monthly stipend is the least that they are owed,” said David Griffiths.