Tamil Families of the Disappeared mark 3,000 days of protest in Vavuniya

Families of forcibly disappeared Tamils marked a grim milestone today as their continuous protest reached 3,000 days in Vavuniya. 

Tamil families in Vavuniya who have been demanding truth and justice for their loved ones, held a demonstration near the Vavuniya Post Office, where they have maintained their protest vigil for over eight years.

The families, predominantly Tamil mothers and elderly relatives, gathered at the protest site holding portraits of their disappeared loved ones, many of whom were last seen in the custody of the Sri Lankan military at the end of the war in May 2009.

They also carried flags of the United States and the European Union, appealing to the international community to take decisive action on their demands for accountability.

Since launching their protest in 2017, Tamil families across the North-East have relentlessly demanded answers regarding the fate of their disappeared relatives. They have repeatedly called for the release of a full list of those who surrendered to the Sri Lankan military in the final days of the war and an independent international investigation into enforced disappearances.

Their calls, however, have been met with state repression, intimidation, and empty promises from successive Sri Lankan governments.

Despite multiple domestic commissions being appointed to investigate enforced disappearances, none have delivered justice or held perpetrators accountable. Instead, families have faced harassment from security forces, surveillance, and threats for continuing their protests.

With Sri Lanka’s domestic mechanisms failing to provide justice, Tamils have demanded international actors intervene.

In recent years, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the United States, and the European Union have raised concerns over Sri Lanka’s failure to investigate enforced disappearances and hold those responsible to account. However, little tangible action has been taken, and Tamil families argue that stronger action—such as sanctions on Sri Lankan officials implicated in the genocide and an international accountability process—is needed.

Tamil activists and human rights groups have continued to call for Sri Lanka’s referral to the International Criminal Court (ICC), pointing to its longstanding culture of impunity.

Sri Lanka has one of the highest numbers of enforced disappearances in the world. The majority of those disappeared are Tamils, particularly former LTTE cadres, activists, and civilians who were abducted by Sri Lankan security forces.