Siva Parameswaran Senior International Journalist London
“We reject the talks between the President and the UN Secretary General (UNSG)” was the strong rebuttal from the family members who are victims of forced disappearance in Sri Lanka, as the island nation’s president met with the UN Chief in New York.
In an apparent measure of humiliation and utter disregard to thousands of families who are searching their near and dear who disappeared after they were handed over to, surrendered or abducted by the Sri Lankan armed forces, the President Gotabaya Rajapaksha has reiterated an internal mechanism to address this more than a decade problem.
While the Victims, the Tamil Diaspora, United Nations Human Rights Council and the International community continue to press for an UN supervised international mechanisminto allegations of war crimes including enforced disappearances, the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) has been adamant on an internal mechanism.
Death Certificates
An official communique from the GOSL says “The President informed the Secretary-General that the government would take immediate action with regard to missing persons and expedite the efforts such as issuance of death certificates”.
President Rajapaksa is in New York to address the 76th session of the UN General Assembly.
The families of the victims who are missing for over 12 years have strongly rejected the proposal of the President Rajapaksa to the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
Speaking to journalists in the war-torn north, Maria Suresh Easwary President of the families of forced disappeared persons of Mullaitivu district fumed at the stand of the GOSL and its President.
“Now he is speaking as if we were seeking the death certificates. We have been constantly appealing to the UN by sending our reports not seeking death certificates but seeking justice. The UN has to decide whether all our fight was seeking the death certificate? We want justice from you, we want to know what exactly happened”
Also, while the diaspora Tamil community are continously voicing for an international mechanism seeking justice for the alleged atrocities commited during the brutal civil war with the LTTE, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has now invited the Tamil diaspora to join in a dialogue to resolve issues through an internal mechanism.
The GOSL has been accused of hoodwinking the Tamil war victims who seek justice for their missing ones by opening an Office of Missing Persons (OMP) and proposing to issue death certificates.
While the OMP has failed even to identify and find a single person who has gone missing after being handed over or surrenderd to the Sri Lankan Army or abducted by the armed forces.
Talks rejected
“We reject the talks between the President and the UN Sec. Genl. We don’t want the OMP or the death certificates to be forcefully thrusted on us”.
Maria Suresh Eswary also vowed their fight will continue till they get justice.
“Never ever even in your dreams think that we will receive the death certificates. We will continue to fight till we get justice”.
Tamil law makers have already rejected the stand of the GOSL that compensation has been paid to victims, youths who were arrested over terrorist activities were released, and lands transferred back to the owners- calling it all far from truth.
According to them thousands of acres of fertile land are still being held by the military and hundreds of Tamil youths are languishing in prisons without even being charged and brought to trial and compensation has ever been paid.
Coming under intense international pressure the President in yet another act of placating the international community and the families of the war affected has told the UNSG that he would address their issues-his official statement says.
“The President informed the Secretary-General that legal action would be expedited with regard to rest of the personnel who could not be released, and that he would not hesitate to grant a presidential pardon to the Tamil youths who have been in custody for a long time, taking into account their long-term detention and after the legal process was completed”.
GOSL and its President has again rejected the call for a robust international mechanism to address allegations of war crimes and has reiterated that “the internal issues of Sri Lanka should be resolved through an internal mechanism of the country and said the Tamil Diaspora would be invited for discussions in this regard”.
But people like Maria Suresh Eswary are clearly not convinced with the President’s stand.
“The President was also very active in 2009, so he knows what happened to them and where have been kept hidden”.
Sri Lanka is facing huge external debt and growing dissatisfaction due to spiralling prices and food crisis. Critics of the government say under such a situation the GOSL is making an effort of showing the world that it is relaxing its Sinhala hardliner policy.
