The imminent visit of a UN human rights chief to Sri Lanka has raised suspicions among Tamils in the war-torn North and East.
Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry has announced that the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, is scheduled to visit the island at the end of this month or early next month.
Mothers at the forefront in the struggle for justice denied to Tamils in Sri Lanka’s North and East, had made a passionate appeal urging the visit to be scheduled after the next Geneva Conference.
Protesting in Mullaitivu on day 3007 of Sri Lanka’s longest struggle, launched by the relatives of tens of thousands of Tamils who disappeared at the end of the war, demanding the fate of their victims be revealed, had presented the High Commissioner’s visit as a visit planned by the Sri Lankan government using international agents loyal to them.
During a protest held in Mankulam, Mullaitivu on May 31, Yogarasa Kanagaranjani, chairperson of the Association of Relatives of the Disappeared (ARED) in the North and East, expressed reservations about the government’s efforts and appealed to international forces to support the Tamil people who were victims of the war, to win justice.
“The upcoming UN session is an important session for us. We have learned that the Sri Lankan government is trying to bring in UN representatives for talks through its loyal representatives and negotiate. Therefore, we appeal to countries that understand our pain and suffering as well as love humanity to come together and seek international justice for us, speak up for our justice, and take our issues to the International Court of Justice.”
ARED’s Kanagaranjani further emphasized that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights should not visit Sri Lanka before September.
“He shouldn’t come here before the September sessions. If he really wants to speak about us, as victims we appeal to countries that value humanity, to talk about our issues at the coming September session and everybody there should work in unison. Justice should be delivered to us through the international community. At any time, the Sri Lankan government will not come forward at least to say what happened to our affected relatives.”
The last time a UN High Commissioner for Human Rights visited Sri Lanka was in 2016. When Maithripala Sirisena was president, High Commissioner for Human Rights at the time Prince, Zeid Al Hussein, visited the country. The visit helped to reinforce international confidence that the government would ensure accountability for human rights violations in Sri Lanka, including war crimes.
The ongoing protest was launched in Mullaitivu on International Women’s Day, 2017 to uncover the truth about the missing loved ones. Tamil mothers in the Mullaitivu protest on day 3007 chanted slogans such as ‘What happened to those who were taken away for questioning? Where are those who were abducted in white vans? What happened to those who were dragged from the houses?’ and held placards in Sinhala that read ‘Will the criminals be brought to justice? Where are our children whom you took away?’
Local correspondents report that another protest was also launched in Thirukkovil, Ampara on May 28 under the leadership of the Ampara district chairperson of the Association of Relatives of the Enforced Disappeared, Thambirasa Selvarani, reiterating that the fight will not be given up until the fate of tens of thousands of relatives who have been forcibly disappeared is known.
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