JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — Representatives of the United Nations and Amnesty International are expected to attend a conference in Jaffna on Aug. 30, as families of the forcibly disappeared renew their longstanding demands for truth, justice and accountability.
The conference, titled “The Long Journey for Justice,” is being organised by relatives of the forcibly disappeared to coincide with the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, observed annually on Aug. 30.
It will be held at the Thanthai Chelva Auditorium in Jaffna and is expected to bring together relatives of the disappeared, political representatives, human rights and civil society activists, religious leaders and members of the public.
Organisers said representatives of the United Nations and Amnesty International were also expected to participate. The identities and positions of the representatives were not immediately available.
Families of the disappeared in Sri Lanka’s Northern and Eastern Provinces have for years marked Aug. 30 with demonstrations and marches, demanding answers about the fate and whereabouts of their loved ones and calling for truth, justice and accountability.
Many of the families, particularly mothers and wives of the missing, have sustained public campaigns for years, seeking information about what happened to their relatives and accountability for those responsible.
In a separate event on Aug. 30, the Association of Relatives of the Enforced Disappeared of the North and East plans to hold a demonstration in Kilinochchi from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
The gathering will take place in front of a temple along the A9 highway, where relatives are expected to carry pots of burning camphor in remembrance of their missing loved ones and to draw attention to their continuing search for answers.
Organisers also plan to release a book documenting the families’ long-running campaign for justice.
Enforced disappearances remain one of the most contentious unresolved legacies of Sri Lanka’s decades of conflict. Families in the North and East have repeatedly sought information about relatives who remain missing, while pressing successive governments for credible investigations and answers about their fate.
