Enduring Injustice: Deliberate Denial of Justice for Sri Lanka’s Tamil Victims of Enforced Disappearances

By Wimal Navaratnam, Human Rights Activist

Deliberate Denial of Justice for Sri Lanka’s Tamil Victims of Enforced Disappearances

Sri Lanka’s Tamil Disappearances and the State’s Deliberate Obstruction of Truth

Introduction

The issue of enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka, particularly those affecting Tamil communities during and after the country’s protracted armed conflict, persists as one of the most egregious and unresolved human rights crises in South and Southeast Asia. Despite international scrutiny, legislative reforms, and the establishment of multiple domestic mechanisms, justice and truth for the families of tens of thousands of disappeared remain consistently and deliberately denied by the Sri Lankan state.

This dossier critically examines how successive governments have manipulated legal, political, and institutional frameworks to avoid accountability, with a special focus on the state’s use of reclassifying wartime disappearances as “missing persons”-an act which serves to obscure crimes of enforced disappearance and frustrate efforts for redress. It further contextualizes the tactics of deflection deployed domestically and internationally to stymie investigations, with poignant attention to the impact on Tamil families and affected communities.

Drawing on extensive documentation by the United Nations, human rights organizations, and survivor collectives, the report synthesizes the historical trajectory of disappearances, analyzes the legal-political landscape, scrutinizes mass grave investigations, and details ongoing advocacy and calls to action. The findings illustrate not just a pattern of impunity, but a systematic architecture of denial and punishment directed at those seeking the truth.

Background and Historical Context

The Roots of Persecution and Waves of Disappearance

The phenomenon of enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka, although most acutely associated with the 1983-2009 civil war era, is intimately tied to state formation and demographic engineering stretching back to British colonial policy and post-independence Sinhalese nationalist politics1. The disenfranchisement of Indian Tamils in 1948, the Sinhala Only Act of 1956, systematic discrimination in education and public service, and cumulative constitutional amendments institutionalized an ethnocentric state which marginalized Tamils and other minorities. These policies, compounded by episodes of anti-Tamil pogroms (notably “Black July” in 1983), set the stage for armed conflict and a parallel history of brutal state repression.

In this climate, enforced disappearances became a routine tool of war and counterinsurgency. Tamil civilians were especially targeted in the Northern and Eastern provinces, often under the framework of counter-terrorism operations, mass arrests, and military roundups. The UN estimates that between 60,000-100,000 individuals, predominantly Tamil, were subject to enforced disappearance from the 1980s to 2009, with cases peaking during major military operations and after the declared end of hostilities in May 200923. Additionally, Sinhalese youth also suffered disappearances during the southern Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) insurgency, but the enduring impunity and scale remain overwhelmingly borne by Tamils.

Institutionalization of Impunity

Despite global recognition that Sri Lanka ranks among the states with the highest number of unresolved enforced disappearances, impunity prevails. Early state responses involved the creation of ad hoc presidential commissions of inquiry (e.g., the Zonal and All-Island Commissions in the 1990s), but these bodies neither resulted in effective prosecutions nor in transparency for affected families2. Reports often remained unpublished or only partially implemented. Many victims’ families began referring to these commissions as state mechanisms to “bury the truth.”

The years following the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were marked by aggressive militarization, land grabs in Tamil areas, and an escalation of disappearances during surrender and in the aftermath of military campaigns54. Promises made at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for meaningful accountability and reconciliation have been repeatedly broken, as detailed below.

International Legal Definitions and Sri Lanka’s Obligations

The international standard for enforced disappearance is established under the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED), which Sri Lanka ratified in 2016. The ICPPED defines enforced disappearance as the arrest, detention, abduction, or any deprivation of liberty by agents of the state-followed by refusal to acknowledge this or by concealing the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared, thereby placing the person outside the protection of the law67.

The convention imposes strict obligations:

·        No exceptional circumstance (e.g. war, emergency) justifies enforced disappearance.

·        States must criminalize and prosecute enforced disappearance as a specific, serious crime.

·        The systematic or widespread practice of enforced disappearance is recognized as a crime against humanity, attracting additional obligations for criminal prosecution.

·        Victims (including relatives and those suffering harm as a result) have the right to know the truth, to reparation, and to participate in the search and investigation process.

·        States must prevent impunity, prohibit secret detention, and bar amnesty for perpetrators.

Despite ratification and domestic enabling legislation-the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance Act, No. 5 of 2018-Sri Lanka has failed to operationalize the law: as of 2024, not a single conviction has been secured, and there are no verified cases of effective investigation under this law8.

National Legal and Institutional Frameworks Enabling Disappearances

The Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) of 1979 stands out as the most notorious legal instrument underpinning Sri Lanka’s regime of enforced disappearances910. The PTA enabled indefinite detention without charge, pre-trial incarceration in undisclosed locations, and the admissibility of confessions extracted under duress. It gave wide-ranging powers to security forces for search, seizure, and restrictions on movement, while shielding officials from prosecution for acts conducted “in good faith.” These provisions were repeatedly condemned by international bodies for facilitating torture and disappearance.

Moreover, the legal and political machinery has remained heavily militarized; key institutions like the Office on Missing Persons (OMP), Human Rights Commission, and judiciary have fallen under the influence of former or serving military and security personnel, undermining their independence411.

Political interference-such as the use of Presidential Commissions to halt or “review” criminal investigations, selective presidential pardons (notably that of Sunil Ratnayake in 2020, convicted of killing Tamil civilians), and the gazetting of broad powers via emergency or “counter-terror” legislation-further entrenched impunity1213.

Entrenchment of Impunity through Domestic Mechanisms

Domestic transitional justice mechanisms, including the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC, established 2010), the Paranagama Commission, and the Office on Missing Persons, have all been widely disparaged as structural shields for impunity122. They are characterized by:

·        Narrow or non-existent mandates regarding criminal accountability;

·        Lack of witness protection and hostile environments for testimony;

·        Absence of follow-up on recommendations;

·        Prioritization of “reconciliation” or compensation over truth-seeking and justice; and

·        Appointment of officials with potential conflicts of interest or direct ties to alleged perpetrators.

Manipulation of Crime Classifications: From Enforced Disappearance to “Missing Person”

Watch a video: Why Distinguishing These Concepts Matters for Truth, Accountability, and Justice-Insights for the Tamil Community and Global Human Rights Advocates

Tactics of Classification and Their Consequences

A linchpin in obstructing accountability is the deliberate reclassification of enforced disappearances as simple instances of “missing persons.” This process, which has spanned multiple government administrations, is executed through administrative, legal, and discursive means.

Administrative and Legal Maneuvers

The OMP, while created with a formal mandate to investigate “enforced disappearances,” has largely adopted an administrative “case management” approach-focusing its listing, certifying, and offering compensation to families under the label of “missing persons.” Thus, instead of a criminal justice response-identifying perpetrators and prosecuting them-state effort centers on eligibility for financial assistance, the issuance of “Certificates of Absence” (or in some cases, pressured death certificates), and the closure of files414.

This tactic achieves several aims for the state:

1.        Obscuration of State Responsibility: By blurring the distinction between disappearances orchestrated by the state and those attributed to other causes (war, displacement, voluntary flight), the accountability link is severed.

2.        Curtailment of International Scrutiny: Classified as “missing,” the cases slip beneath the radar of institutions and regimes that obligate action in cases of crimes against humanity.

3.        Dissuasion of Legal Action: Families, often under duress or through attrition, feel pressured to accept compensatory settlements in return for forgoing justice or truth-an act many survivors interpret as “buying silence”4.

Discursive and Media Obfuscation

In official narratives and media reportage, disappearances are often described as:

·        “unaccounted for” due to the chaos of war

·        Movements attributable to wartime evacuations or “voluntary” surrenders

·        Attributed to the LTTE or other “terrorist” actions-a narrative that is not substantiated by the proportion of disappearances correlated with military custody or state-controlled territory2.

This discursive manipulation is paralleled by cases in other jurisdictions (e.g., Canada’s Missing Persons Act) where not every “missing person” is a victim of a crime15-a distinction the Sri Lankan state has leveraged to evade its responsibility under international law for cases where state agents or their proxies were directly involved.

Normalization of Violence and Closure of Cases

Certificates of Absence and death certificates (even in the absence of remains or credible investigation) are foisted upon families who often refuse, seeing these acts as “a way to close the chapter without accountability,” fearing that the mere administrative closure will erase their claims to truth and justice16.

Context and Key Actors

In 2015, a pivotal shift occurred in Sri Lanka’s post-war reconciliation narrative. Tamil political leaders, notably from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), and diaspora organizations such as the Global Tamil Forum (GTF), entered into strategic collaborations with the newly elected Sri Lankan government led by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera played a central role in facilitating these engagements, including high-level talks in London with GTF representatives.

Strategic Reframing of Terminology

This collaboration was marked by a deliberate effort to reframe and dilute the language surrounding Tamil victimhood and wartime atrocities:

  • "Tamil Genocide": The term was systematically avoided in official discourse. Despite widespread documentation of mass atrocities, including enforced disappearances, the government and its Tamil collaborators opted for more neutral language like “human rights violations” or “war crimes,” effectively muting the ethnic dimension of the violence.
  • "Tamileelam": References to the Tamil homeland or aspirations for autonomy under the Tamileelam banner were discouraged. This was part of a broader strategy to align Tamil political demands with the unitary state framework, sidelining historical grievances and aspirations.
  • Recognition of Tamil Identity of Victims: Even though the vast majority of victims of enforced disappearances were Tamil civilians, the official narrative shifted toward a generalized “Sri Lankan victims” framework. This erasure of ethnic identity served to obscure the targeted nature of the violence and undermined calls for accountability specific to Tamil communities.

Impact on Justice and Accountability

This reframing had profound consequences:

  • Dilution of International Advocacy: By avoiding terms like “genocide” and “Tamileelam,” the Sri Lankan government and its Tamil collaborators weakened the moral and legal force of international campaigns for justice.
  • Obfuscation of Enforced Disappearances: Wartime disappearances were reclassified under the broader “Missing Persons” category, stripping them of their criminal and political context. This allowed the state to sidestep accountability under international law, particularly the crime of enforced disappearance as defined by the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
  • Undermining Tamil Civil Society: Grassroots Tamil organizations and victim families were sidelined in favor of elite political actors who were seen as more “cooperative” with the state. This created a disconnect between the lived experiences of victims and the official reconciliation process.

Supporting Evidence

  • The Global Tamil Forum’s endorsement of the Sirisena-Ranil administration emphasized political pragmatism over justice-centered advocacy.
  • Talks in London between Mangala Samaraweera, TNA leaders, and diaspora groups focused on reconciliation but avoided contentious terminology and demands.

The Office on Missing Persons (OMP)

The OMP, established in 2017 in response to international pressure, is a specialized institution tasked with clarifying the fate and whereabouts of disappeared persons. While officials claim a renewed focus on enforced disappearances as a distinct crime, in practice, the OMP has resolved almost no cases. Many affected families perceive the OMP as structurally compromised for several reasons:

·        Appointments of former security forces as commissioners;

·        Pressuring families to accept compensation, leading to closure of investigations;

·        Failure to adequately inform families or include them in investigations;

·        Negligible progress in identifying remains or prosecuting perpetrators411.

These institutional limitations are exacerbated by government interference, a lack of resources, and deliberate delays in proceedings.

Presidential Commissions of Inquiry

Multiple presidential commissions-Zonal and All-Island Commissions, the LLRC, and the Paranagama Commission-have issued voluminous reports but almost none of their recommendations relating to criminal accountability or substantive investigation have been meaningfully implemented216.

Some commissions have explicitly recommended legislative or administrative changes, but these were either ignored, reversed, or diluted. The overwhelming verdict from human rights organizations and the UN is that these commissions have been used primarily to create the appearance of action and to delay or deflect international engagement.

Pattern of “Legal Obstruction and Weaponization”

In certain emblematic cases (e.g., “Trincomalee 11,” disappearance of journalists, Chemmani mass grave), the domestic prosecutorial approach has involved:

·        Prolonged judicial delays far in excess of what is normal in Sri Lankan criminal proceedings, suggesting a strategy of delay and attrition;

·        Reluctance to investigate or prosecute senior officers or those in the chain of command;

·        Use of presidential pardons to reverse the rare conviction that is achieved (as with Sunil Ratnayake, convicted and later pardoned for the massacre of Tamil civilians);

·        Recommendations by commissions for halting investigations into politically sensitive cases, under the pretext of “political victimization” claims by the accused13.

Political and Institutional Deflection of International Scrutiny

Tactics at the International Level

Sri Lanka has consistently deployed a “delay, deflect, deny” strategy; it routinely makes formal commitments at the UN and to bilateral partners, only to quietly abandon them under domestic political or nationalist pressure.

After co-sponsoring UNHRC Resolution 30/1 in 2015-committing to a range of transitional justice initiatives, including a judicial mechanism with foreign participation-the government publicly withdrew its support in 2020, asserting the primacy of sovereignty and the alleged adequacy of domestic mechanisms173. The institutional pattern has been:

·        Appearing to Consent: Domestic “truth and reconciliation” initiatives are announced at key moments preceding international reviews.

·        Sovereignty Discourse: The government denounces international accountability measures or external investigations as violations of sovereignty and national security, even refusing proposed participation of foreign judges or investigators.

·        Technical Compliance, Substantive Evasion: While adopting relevant international conventions and creating institutions like the OMP, the state withholds resources, undermines independence, and ensures that accountability is never reached in practice318.

·        Media Control and Narrative Management: State media and aligned outlets frame concerns about disappearances as “foreign interference” or label survivors and activists as agents of separatism or “terrorism,” chilling legitimate advocacy.

Use and Repression by Security Agencies

The Sri Lankan police, notably the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) and Criminal Investigation Department (CID), continue to harass and surveil families of the disappeared, including through:

·        Physical and digital surveillance: Regular “visits” to homes, monitoring of public events, photographing and filming at memorials, and tracking communications.

·        Arbitrary Detentions: Use of counterterrorism laws (especially the PTA) to detain protestors, journalists, and activists without due process-sometimes on fabricated or trivial charges.

·        Threats and Isolation: Use of community informers to warn against association with campaigners or to create social isolation; threats directed at children or secondary family members to suppress advocacy.

·        Abuse of Financial Regulations: Blocking bank transfers to NGOs or families on ostensible grounds of counter-terrorism financing concerns, as noted by the International Monetary Fund’s own review11.

Mass Graves, Forensic Investigations, and the Current Status of Investigations

Chemmani and Other Mass Graves: The Test Case for Sri Lanka

The discovery and investigation of mass grave sites-including the most recent site at Chemmani-Siththupaththi near Jaffna-has been heralded as a crucial test of the state’s sincerity regarding accountability and truth.

Key Developments:

·        Chemmani first garnered attention in 1998 after a soldier confessed to the existence of mass graves; only 15 skeletons were exhumed in 1999, despite claims that hundreds of bodies were buried.8

·        In February 2025, further excavation at Chemmani-Siththupaththi uncovered more than 100 skeletal remains, including children and infants. The ICJ and local groups have demanded international forensic oversight, citing longstanding failure of domestic investigations to produce credible outcomes.19

·        As of August 2025, at least 147 skeletons had been exhumed, with little to no progress on identification of remains or prosecution.19

·        Forensic integrity and victim participation have been flagged as critical gaps. International protocols, such as the Minnesota Protocol and the Bournemouth Protocol, require transparent, independent, and family-centered approaches. Domestic practice in Sri Lanka has not met these standards despite state assurances.

Families participating in “Imperishable Lamp” protests at Chemmani emphasized their complete lack of trust in domestic procedures and called for international oversight, demonstrating the link between continued denial of justice and deep social trauma8.

Broader Landscape of Mass Grave Investigations

Sri Lanka lacks any specialized institutional capacity or legal framework to manage mass graves, let alone mechanisms to ensure proper chain of custody, witness protection, or the integration of families in the process. Past investigations at Chemmani (1999), Mannar (2013-2018), and other sites have consistently failed to result in credible prosecutions or robust truth-seeking16.

Obstruction and Politicization in the Forensic Process

Recent UN and ICJ guidance puts emphasis on timely, transparent, and independent investigations, noting obstructionist behaviors such as:

·        Denial or obstruction of access for international experts,

·        Failure to properly secure excavation sites,

·        Absence of reliable DNA collection and matching between remains and relatives,

·        Lack of timely communication with families,

·        Suppression or selective publication of findings2.

The most recent report by the ICJ (July 2025) further illustrated how these failings, in aggregate, reinforce the perception among relatives and survivors that Sri Lanka’s primary objective is managing international reputation-not achieving justice for victims.

The Impact on Victims’ Families and Communities

Enduring Psychological, Social, and Economic Harms

For Tamil families, the effect of enforced disappearances is not simply a matter of unresolved grief. The uncertainty surrounding the fate of a loved one-what has become known as “ambiguous loss”-is uniquely corrosive, creating ongoing psychological harm, preventing closure, and undermining community cohesion2016.

Key manifestations:

·        Mental health struggles: chronic anxiety, depression, PTSD, and somatization.

·        Persistent economic hardship, as the disappeared were overwhelmingly male breadwinners, leaving women to fill precarious, low-status jobs.

·        Loss of property: some families sell assets, properties, or heirlooms to search for their loved ones.

·        Social stigma and isolation, including exclusion from community events and suspicion from neighbors who fear association will bring police scrutiny.

·        Religious and cultural trauma: inability to perform appropriate funeral rites for the missing, which is critical in Tamil and Sri Lankan religious tradition.

Gendered Impact and Activism

It is predominantly mothers and wives who lead the struggle for truth and justice, organizing through collectives such as the Association for the Relatives of Enforced Disappearances (ARED) and braving harassment, surveillance, and sometimes violence. Many have died during the years of protest-not from natural attrition but from the compounded stress and trauma inflicted, without ever receiving an answer regarding the fate of their kin21.

Women activists and relatives often face not just intimidation but explicit threats of sexual violence, compounded by the militarized security environment in the North and East, and persistent efforts by authorities to break up memorial events or sit-ins16.

Coercive Silence and Retaliatory Tactics

It is routine for victims’ families to receive threats to surviving children, have cases fabricated against family members, or face arrest for participating in peaceful demonstration or memorialization activities. Counter-narcotics campaigns and spurious criminal cases have become tools for targeted harassment, alongside night-time delivery of stay orders and punitive surveillance421.

Economic coercion-such as offers of compensation in exchange for acceptance of case closure-adds a layer of moral violence to the experience of bereaved families, particularly when such offers are accompanied by implicit or explicit warnings not to “support the movement” for justice42.

Intergenerational Trauma

Children of the disappeared, deprived of recognition, support, and psychosocial care, are at heightened risk of poverty, interrupted education, and social exclusion. The broader Tamil community, facing ongoing land encroachments, militarization, and erasure of history and memorials, lives with the collective trauma and anger of knowing that their losses are neither acknowledged nor recognized by the state.

UNHRC Resolutions and OHCHR Sri Lanka Accountability Project

Given the collapse of domestic avenues for accountability, victims’ families, human rights groups, and the broader Tamil community have shifted their focus to international mechanisms.

UNHRC Actions

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has played a prominent role since 2012, beginning with multiple Human Rights Council resolutions mandating collection and preservation of evidence in anticipation of future accountability processes. Two key moments include:

·        Resolution 30/1 (2015): Initially co-sponsored by Sri Lanka, committing to justice, reconciliation, and international participation in transitional justice mechanisms. The government has since formally withdrawn support.

·        Resolution 46/1 (2021) and 51/1 (2022): Further strengthened OHCHR's evidence collection mandate, culminating in the formal creation of the Sri Lanka Accountability Project (OSLap) to preserve and analyze evidence, support foreign prosecutions where possible, and maintain ongoing monitoring1722.

These resolutions have pressured the Sri Lankan government but have not produced tangible progress domestically. As of October 2024, the UNHRC extended OSLap’s mandate for only one year despite calls from civil society for a longer extension, highlighting both the limits and possibilities of current international engagement23.

Criticisms and Pushback

Sri Lanka, alongside allied states, has accused the UNHRC and OHCHR of overreach-characterizing external accountability mechanisms as violations of sovereignty and attempting to position the UNHRC as a quasi-judicial body without General Assembly or Security Council approval24. However, these efforts have partly backfired, galvanizing further calls for universal jurisdiction and individual states to pursue criminal cases in their own courts against accused perpetrators.

Media Narratives and Civil Society Advocacy

Role of the Media: Repression and Documentation

Tamil journalists, particularly those documenting disappearances, land grabs, and mass grave investigations, have been consistent targets of harassment and intimidation by security forces. Case studies like that of photojournalist Kanapathipillai Kumanan-subjected in August 2025 to a seven-hour counter-terror interrogation-highlight the criminalization of fact-based reporting and the exposure of state abuses as ‘terrorism-related’ activity25.

Journalists covering mass grave excavations, survivor protests, or advocating for transitional justice face arrests, fabricated charges, and threats to their families. This pattern serves both to silence public discourse and to delegitimize survivor testimony, further impeding the possibility of truth and reconciliation.

Civil Society Mobilization and International Solidarity

Despite this, Tamil and allied civil society organizations, survivor collectives (such as ARED), and international NGOs continue to advocate for international investigations, documentation of genocide claims, and referral to the International Criminal Court or the creation of a dedicated tribunal for Sri Lanka22.

Summary Table: Key Events, Policy Shifts, and International Responses

Year/Period

Event/Policy Shift

Description

International Response

1948

Disenfranchisement of Indian Tamils

Legislation strips Tamils of citizenship rights

Suppressed Tamil protests, limited outside response

1956

Sinhala Only Act

Sinhala as the sole official language, marginalizing Tamils

No significant response

1971-1990s

Waves of enforced disappearances

Mass “disappearances” during the JVP and ethnic conflict

Multiple commissions, minimal action by international bodies

1983

“Black July” Pogrom

Mass violence against Tamils catalyzes ethnic conflict

UN/ICJ statements, no effective action

1983-2009

Civil War, mass disappearances

Tamil disappearances, impunity, militarization

UN concerne, OHCHR, Spécial Rapporteurs

1998/1999

Chemmani mass graves first exhumed

Evidence of mass killings in Jaffna uncovered

Forensic reports, no accountability

Post-2009

Militarization, further disappearances

Crackdown in North/East, loss of land, “white van” abductions

Rising UN scrutiny, calls for international investigation

2015

Co-sponsorship of UNHRC 30/1

Commitment to truth, justice, and international participation

Seen as progress, quickly withdrawn by Sri Lanka

2016

OMP established, Enforced Disappearances Act

Formation of OMP, adoption of ICCPED

Criticism over the lack of independence, no prosecutions

2020

Sri Lanka withdraws from 30/1, “counter terror” push

Reversal on justice commitments, continued use of PTA

UN, EU censure, OHCHR Reporting

Feb-Aug 2025

Chemmani exhumations resumed

147+ skeletons exhumed; forensic integrity questioned

ICJ, UNHRC, HRW demand international oversight

Ongoing

Administrative classification as “missing”

OMP and the government use administrative means to close cases

Condemned by families, OHCHR, NGOs

Ongoing

Surveillance and persecution of families

Routine police harassment, threat to activists and journalists

Criticized by human rights bodies, the UN, IMF

Calls to Action and Advocacy Strategies

Demands for the Sri Lankan State

4.        Full compliance with international legal standards, including the Minnesota and Bournemouth Protocols, in all investigations into enforced disappearances and mass graves, with the guarantee of genuine, independent, and transparent processes 2.

5.        Immediate cessation of harassment, intimidation, surveillance, and arbitrary detention of victims’ families, journalists, and human rights defenders; public moratorium on the use of the Prevention of Terrorism Act and related powers26.

6.        Entrenchment of victim-centred participation: Ensure the right of victims and families to truth, involvement in investigations, and psychosocial and economic support throughout the process.

7.        Full implementation of the Enforced Disappearances Act (2018) with clear prosecution guidelines, independence for the OMP, and transparency in proceedings and findings.

8.        Prosecution and removal from office of officials credibly implicated in enforced disappearances, and a bar on appointments of personnel with a history of abuse.

Demands of the International Community

9.        Renew and strengthen the mandate and capacity of the OHCHR Sri Lanka Accountability Project, including robust evidence preservation and support for universal jurisdiction prosecutions22.

10.   Pursue targeted sanctions (travel bans, asset freezes) on officials credibly alleged to be responsible for gross violations, including enforced disappearances11.

11.   Vetting of Sri Lankan officials and security sector personnel for participation in UN peacekeeping and international forums.

12.   Support for survivor and family advocacy: Facilitate international travel, protection, and access to justice for survivor groups, and ensure witness protection.

13.   Consider concerted action for referral to the International Criminal Court or ad hoc tribunal if Sri Lankan state remains non-compliant.

14.   Regular public reporting by OHCHR and the Human Rights Council to maintain visibility and pressure, including biannual updates on the situation of war widows, political prisoners, land seizures, and ongoing disappearances.

Civil Society and Survivor Group Advocacy

·        Maintain pressure on local and international actors for the recognition and prosecution of enforced disappearance as a crime against humanity.

·        Document and archive survivor testimonies and evidence, to preserve the record and enable future accountability.

·        Build transnational solidarity with other movements (e.g., families of the disappeared in Latin America and Indigenous movements in Canada) to expose the universality of the struggle for truth and reparations.

·        Advocate for integration of psychosocial services within all transitional justice mechanisms.

Conclusion: Toward Justice and Non-Recurrence

Fifteen years after the end of the armed conflict, Sri Lanka’s Tamil victims of enforced disappearance remain trapped in an unresolved cycle of denial, harrowing uncertainty, and revived trauma. The deliberate use of classifications, legal obfuscation, institutional inertia, and repression has not only denied justice, but also emboldened further cycles of abuse that threaten prospects for peace and reconciliation.

While the establishment of the OMP and the adoption of relevant international conventions appeared promising on paper, in practice they have functioned as administrative tools to manage and close files, not to deliver truth, justice, or meaningful reparation. The continued failure to credibly investigate mass grave sites-despite repeated discoveries and the pleas of survivors-serves as a vivid symbol of this enduring impunity.

The call from victims, survivors, and the broader Tamil community is clear and unambiguous: state and international actors must move beyond rhetorical commitment and cosmetic reforms, towards concrete, survivor-centered truth-telling, criminal accountability, and systemic change. Only through such action can Sri Lanka truly break the cycle of denial and prevent the recurrence of gross human rights violations.


     In solidarity,

     Wimal Navaratnam

     Human Rights Advocate | ABC Tamil Oli (ECOSOC)

     Email: tamilolicanada@gmail.com


Key Takeaways

·        Enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka are not isolated acts but the result of deliberate state policies and systematic manipulation of classification, legal frameworks, and transitional justice institutions.

·        The state’s reclassification of disappearances as “missing persons” is a central tactic to obscure criminal accountability and frustrate the rights of survivors and families.

·        Domestic mechanisms have failed due to structural flaws, politicization, and lack of will; international engagement remains essential for any prospect of justice.

·        Families and survivors continue to suffer under the weight of psychosocial trauma, economic hardship, harassment, and social exclusion, yet their demands for truth and justice have not abated.

·        The international community must maintain and intensify engagement through OHCHR, targeted sanctions, and support for universal jurisdiction prosecutions, while centering the voices and needs of survivor communities in all future actions.

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17. UNHRC Resolution 46/1 - Ilankai Tamil Sangam. https://sangam.org/unhrc-resolution-46-1/

18. Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lessons_Learnt_and_Reconciliation_Commission

23. OHCHR Sri Lanka accountability project (2021) . https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/sri-lanka-accountability/index

26. Sri Lanka: Police Target Families of ‘Disappeared’. https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/08/20/sri-lanka-police-target-families-of-disappeared

16. untitled . https://international-review.icrc.org/sites/default/files/irrc_99_905_3.pdf

19. Chemmani excavation uncovers 147 skeletons - Sunday Observer. https://www.sundayobserver.lk/2025/08/10/news-features/59129/chemmani-excavation-uncovers-147-skeletons/

20. Legacy of enforced disappearances haunts Sri Lanka . https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2024/05/legacy-enforced-disappearances-haunts-sri-lanka

21. Sri Lanka continues to persecute Tamil families of the disappeared .... https://www.tamilguardian.com/content/sri-lanka-continues-persecute-tamil-families-disappeared-hrw

22. HRC resolution on Sri Lanka underscores need for international scrutiny. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/10/geneva-un-hrc-resolution-on-sri-lanka-underscores-continued-need-for-international-scrutiny/

24. Sri Lanka Precedent : UNHRC attempting to create a Global Court .... https://www.sinhalanet.net/sri-lanka-precedent-unhrc-attempting-to-create-a-global-court-overriding-unga-unsc-approval

25. Tamil journalist grilled for nearly 7 hours by Sri Lanka’s Counter .... https://www.tamilguardian.com/content/tamil-journalist-summoned-ctid-questioning-mullaitivu

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