No graves for Sri Lanka's disappeared

For relatives of the missing, All Souls' Day a reminder of unanswered questions

A Tamil woman cries after offering a floral tribute to relatives who disappeared during
Sri Lanka's civil war. (Photo by Quintus Colombage)

Quintus Colombage, Raddoluwa-Sri Lanka-October 30, 2015

S.M. Premasilee commemorates All Souls' Day but is not sure whether she
should or not. That's because she doesn't know if her husband and two
brothers are still alive or dead.
The 61-year-old Tamil woman nonetheless travels more than 250
kilometers to pay homage at a specially erected monument for those who
have no tombs people like her relatives, who disappeared at the hands
of Sri Lankan security forces in the late 1980s.
The monument, erected in 2000 with about 600 photos of Sinhalese and
Tamil people who disappeared, is in front of St. Cecilia's Church, on a tiny

strip of land in Raddoluwa in Colombo Archdiocese. It was here in this

former "no man's land" between government forces and rebels that two
bodies were found in 1989.
"November is the month to remember the dead but we have no graves, no
place to light a candle and no place to lay flowers like others," said
Premasilee, who hails from Hambantota in southern Sri Lanka.
"People remember loved ones departed but I don't know what happened to
my husband and two brothers," she said.
During the three decades of civil war, which ended in 2009, it was "usual"
to find bodies of unknown people everywhere, Premasilee said .
"My husband and two brothers were abducted by the army, and when we
inquired about them, we were told the army had mistakenly identified them
as rebels," she added.
Since then, they remain among the thousands who disappeared and can
only be presumed dead.

S.M. Premasilee lost her husband and two brothers during Sri Lanka's civil war. She says she doesn't
know if they are alive or dead. (Photo by Quintus Colombage)

While Catholics worldwide observe All Souls' Day on Nov. 2, people in Sri

Lanka pay homage to their dead during the whole month of November.
Relatives gather every year to lay flowers and conduct religious rites at this
monument in case their disappeared loved ones have indeed died.
"I know many who have never recovered from their son or husband's
disappearance," said Premasilee.
"I was also beaten up several times by the military but still have the
courage to ask for justice over every single disappearance in the country,"
she said.
In 1983, the Sri Lankan government became embroiled in a brutal civil war
against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, an insurgent group that fought
to carve out a separate Tamil homeland in the country's North and East
until the group was defeated by government forces in 2009.
About 40,000 civilians died during the final days of that war. It was a period
of unlawful killings, disappearances, arbitrary arrests and torture from both
sides.
During the civil war, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (people's liberation
front) also launched a militant Sinhalese nationalist insurrection in 1989.
The government countered with a brutal offensive in which the insurrection
was crushed and an estimated 60,000 were killed or disappeared.

Sri Lankans visit a monument with about 600 photos of Sinhalese and Tamil people who
disappeared. The monument, constructed in 2000, sits in front of St. Cecilia's Church, Raddoluwa in
Colombo Archdiocese. (Photo by Quintus Colombage)

A war ends, but the damage remains

"The war is over and our loved ones are still missing, but we have not yet
given up the search," said J. Selvarani, a mother of two.
Like Selvarani and Premasilee, other relatives of the disappeared can only
place flowers and say prayers before images of their loved ones.
Antanet Theresa, a Catholic mother of three, said she dosent know what to
tell her children about their father.
"How did he disappear? Government officials say they dont know anything
about our loved ones," she said.
"Many like me ran to the nearest police station to lodge complaints but the
police simply refused to accept them," she recalled.
The disappearances during the civil war hit both Tamil and Sinhalese
families. Many people also took advantage of the war to settle private

disputes. They hired private militia to wipe out those who opposed them.
Britto Fernando, president of the Association for Families of the
Disappeared, said the St. Cecilias Church monument has also become an
important symbol and record of a tragic part of the countrys history.
According to him, disappearances were frequently used as a strategy to
generate fear and insecurity.
"The government should reveal what happened to all the disappeared and
where they died," he said.
"Give compensation, rehabilitation and restitution to family members. Give
them a guarantee that it wont happen again," Fernando said.
Father Sherad Jayawardana, a Catholic priest, said relatives have the right
to ask what happened to their loved ones.
Only then can Sri Lankans hope there will be no enforced disappearance in
the future, he said.
The government has promised the international community it will bring
justice for the families of those who disappeared, according to Mano
Ganesan, Sri Lankas minister for national dialogue.
However, the families of the thousands who are missing remain skeptical,
saying the pledge raises two more questions when? and how?
Posted by Thavam