|
 The
overriding belief in the sacredness of human life has been lost a
long time ago in the beautiful island country of Sri Lanka. A taste
for justice and peace has remained distant for our brothers and
sisters in this part of the globe for decades. Their very situation
speaks loudly to the conscience of their powerful government and to
the global society appealing for support.
Enforced or involuntary disappearance is a
phenomenon in Sri Lanka for almost half a century. Voluminous
documents written by progressive Sri Lankan organizations and
individuals as well as international human rights organizations and
their members speak of this glaring reality. The phenomenon started
with thousands of cases in the early 1970s when the country was
still headed by a prime minister under the tutelage of the British
government, hitting its peak with an estimated 60,000
desaparecidos during the so-called “terror years” in Sri Lanka
from 1984 to 1994 and the phenomenon continues to this day.
The civil war wherein the Tamils fight for an
independent Tamil Eelam or nation is being met with full force by
the succeeding Sinhalese-headed governments under the guise of
preserving national security. This climate perpetuates enforced
disappearances and other forms of human rights violations. The
presidents of the land were more preoccupied in preserving
themselves and their parties in power than in giving much-needed
attention to this dark reality. One or other president claimed that
he/she responded to the situation but these were just scratches on
the surface of the deeply-rooted problem.
In view of the above, this paper attempts to look
into the roots of enforced disappearances in the country, the
gravity and extent of cases over the years during the succeeding
governments, the effects on the families of victims and what they
have been doing to seek justice for their loved ones and heal
themselves. It also looks at the succeeding governments’ handling of
this glaring expression of human beings’ cruelty to fellow human
beings. Some insights are posed at the end of this paper hoping that
these may contribute to the initiation of fresh steps geared towards
the resolution of this grave phenomenon. |
