Tamil mothers representing victims of enforced disappearances have vehemently rejected any association with Sri Lanka’s upcoming presidential election.
Sending a strong message to the electorate and international observers, leaders of the movement in search of the truth about the fate of their loved ones say that none of the Sinhala presidential hopefuls can be trusted to deliver justice.
Since the war ended in a bloodshed 15 years ago Tamils have been unsuccessfully campaigning for internationally assisted accountability. Relatives of the disappeared led by women are in the eighth year of their continuous protest – the country’s longest.
On Tuesday (27), an activist mother whose husband was abducted by the navy 15 years ago and yet to return slammed any discussion about the election as ‘disgusting’.
“When you ask about a presidential election in such a situation we feel disgusted,” Mariyasuresh Easwary told Tamil journalists in Mullaitivu.
The Mullaitivu district President of the Association for Relatives of the Enforced Disappearances (ARED) was briefing the press about a protest to be held in the north and east on 30 August.
“Whether it is those who killed us, or those who abducted us, whoever comes to power will be someone who is ready to protect them.”
“We have no faith that the disappeared youth will get a solution when a Sinhala politician is elected. That is why we are having our eyes on the international community. We won’t be held responsible for any president or any politician who wins. Anyone is free to come and go,’ said Manuel Uthayachandra.
A group of Tamil parties have fielded a Tamil candidate for the presidential race while another Tamil nationalist party is calling to boycott the election to be held on September 21.
Despite repeated calls by Tamil war victims for an international justice mechanism, the UN rights body in its latest review on Sri Lanka’s rights record has suggested the new government undertake constitutional and institutional reforms needed to strengthen democracy and devolution of political authority and advance accountability and reconciliation.
