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“Tell us what happened to our children”

“Our children were taken into custody by the SL military after operation ‘Riviresa’ in 1996 and we have not heard anything about them, whether they are still in government military custody or killed and buried in mass graves and therefore asking the government to tell us the fate of our children” said a mother, one of the demonstrators among the parents of missing youths, yesterday 21 October 2005 in the Jaffna District Secretariat premises.

About 600 youths were taken into custody during and after the military operation in which Sri Lankan forces captured Jaffna and their fate is still not known. President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga met these parents several times in Colombo and also invited them for a televised interview telecast at the Palaly Military complex wherein she promissed to order proper investigations, but nothing tangible has been done to satisfy the parents. The parents are seeking immediate action by the government to provide them with necessary information relating to the fate of their children.

These parents have not been given the right information about the whereabouts of their children nor have they been legally advised to obtain death certificates according to the law that stipulates that a person missing for seven years is considered as dead. When asked by our correspondent whether they have applied for compensation, the mothers unanimously said that what they are asking for is not money but a responsible reply from the government after a lapse of nine years since their children were taken into custody by the military. A memorandum to this effect was handed over yesterday to the Government Agent, Jaffna Mr. K.Ganesh who promissed to interact with the authorities and obtain a response.

22 October 2005

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