A grieving mother searching for her forcibly disappeared relative for over a decade and a half and protesting peacefully was summoned and questioned by Sri Lanka’s anti-terror police unit.
Grieving mothers, wives, and sisters have been continuously staging a peaceful protest for over 8 years now. They are searching for their near and dear who are victims of enforced disappearances either after surrendering, handed over, or abducted after the brutal civil war came to a bloody end.
While none of those who disappeared after the war has been found to date, An official body the Office for the Missing Persons (OMP) created by an act of Parliament has not even traced a single person reported missing, while the protesting mothers have time and again said they don’t have faith in the OMP and have dismissed it as a sham.
Now, a leading member of the women-led protest group searching for their missing ones was summoned by the Counter Terrorism Investigation Department (CTID) for inquiry which has been strongly condemned by Tamil Civil Society Organisations and Tamil politicians.
Amalanayaki Amalraj, Batticaloa district President of the Association for the Relatives of the Enforced Disappearances in the North and Eastern Provinces (ARED) a victims action group created to search for the tens of thousands of people who disappeared during Sri Lanka’s armed conflict was interrogated for over three hours on the 30th of July. The same day she spoke to local journalists about the ordeal she faced during the inquiry by the police. Officials from the CTID office in the capital were present in Batticaloa to question her. According to her, in the files and documents brought by the officials, she was identified as a terrorist.
“In the file sent by Colombo, I was fully portrayed as a terrorist. Their idea was to brand us as terrorists, thereby creating psychological pressure and forcing us to stop the protests carried on by us”.
During the last week of June this year (2024), the ARED representatives of the 8 districts in the traditional Tamil homeland in the North and East launched a simultaneous protest demonstration seeking the whereabouts of their relatives. Speaking at a common meeting on July 30th at Vavuniya, Sivananthan Jenita questioned the rationale of investigating the grieving mothers under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). She also pointed out that the Tamil mothers of the ARED were staging a democratic protest just seeking an answer to the simple question about the whereabouts of their children.
“The President of the Batticaloa district of our organization has been summoned by the CTID officials. Are we terrorists to be questioned under the PTA by the CTID? State oppression is being unleashed against us for seeking to know where our relatives are and staging a democratic protest for the same”.
President of the Mullaitivu district ARED who led the protest in that district called upon all to cooperate in finding their loved ones rather than calling the mothers who are searching for their children for questioning.
“In every district, the CTID police are subjecting the women leading the protests to more than 4-5 hours of questioning. On the 30th of July president of the ARED in Batticaloa district Amalanayaki was questioned for 4 hours. Such intimidations continue to happen. Tactics like that should be stopped and everyone should cooperate to search and get back our relatives,” Mariasuresh Easwary said at a meeting in Mullaitivu on the 31st of July.
‘Association with the annihilated LTTE’
Amalaraj Amalanayaki aka Vallipuram Amalanayaki says the officials of the CTID in Batticaloa questioned whether she has any contacts with the LTTE which the government has claimed to have annihilated 15 years back.
“I was asked about my contacts with the LTTE, both locally and internationally. I replied saying it was they who told it’s a banned organization or that organization doesn’t exist. Also, I asked how the LTTE name crops up and it is for them to search it. We don’t have any contact with anybody who comes calling themselves LTTE. We haven’t seen that side too. It is for you to find out”.
Diaspora Money?
Amalanayaki told local media persons she was questioned if the relatives searching for their loved ones who are victims of enforced disappearance were receiving funds from the diaspora. CTID officers also asked her whether she was part of those trying to revive the LTTE.
“They asked if the diaspora was funding the protest. I replied saying they haven’t done so far and told them they could provide such contacts if they have so. They were trying to portray me as a terrorist and one of the persons trying to revive the LTTE. Apart from that they felt such protests in the past were carried out with a view to discredit and defame the government. That seemed to be their opinion”.
She points out the government believes such inquiries and intimidations of people since 2017 would deter them from continuing with their search to know the whereabouts of their relatives and seeking accountability.
“Since they are under international pressure, they are trying to create a psychological pressure which will affect us. For example, when I am called for an inquiry this message will reach another four mothers. And, those mothers will move away from the protests due to fear. That’s their only objective.
Amalanayaki expresses fear about her personal data right from her birth details and private details of her family members were being collected by the CTID officials. During her interrogation she had been shown six photos taken at various times during their protests and details about it.
Life valued at just LKR 200,000?
The President of the Trincomalee district ARED Sebastian Devi had warned on the 29th of July while protesting in front of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) office in Trincomalee warned of the risk of to persons like Amalanayaki and other mothers who participated in democratic protests being under the surveillance of state intelligence operatives.
“They appointed Presidential Commissions and nothing happened. Today they have summoned the Batticaloa district president, tomorrow they could summon us also”.
Participating in a protest on the 28th of July, Manuel Uthayachandra president of the Mannar district ARED questioned the OMP if the value of their children’s life was just LKR 200,000.
“We are pouring our dismay on the streets, but none seems to bother about us. We are not sure if justice will be rendered to us. Every mother is losing their lives. When every mother dies the evidence also dies with her. That’s exactly what the government wishes. When they constituted the OMP they brought in four mechanisms. What did they do to find out the truth? The OMP stresses only on compensation. They want the protesting mothers to receive the compensation and simply stay at home. Is the value of our children just two lakhs? We will give you four lakhs and you search and get back our children, that’s what we are saying”.
