An appeal to the International Community August 30, 2017 News, TCC International Day of the Disappeared, August 30th Tvungen forsvinning Enforced Disappearance of Persons is a ‘Crime against Humanity’ according to the Rome Statute of 1998 which established the International Criminal Court. Enforced Disappearance remains one of the most heinous crimes committed against the Eelam Tamils by the Armed Forces of ‘Sri Lanka.’ According to the report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance (WGEID) since its establishment it has transmitted 12,460 cases of disappearances to the ‘Sri Lanka’ Government and has received clarifications only in 6575 cases. It is sad to note that many of its clarifications are one line answers from the Police like, “ Complaint received from the wife of the mssing person.’A’ Report filed in the Magistrates Court. Investigation initiated”. The ‘A’ Report remains in court ‘sine die’ unless further information is submitted to court on it On the visit to ‘Sri Lanka’ by WGEID in July, 2016, the wife of an Ex- LTTE member who is now a minister for Women Affairs, Rehabilitation and Social Services of the Northern Provincial Council has stated that at the end of the civil war in 2009, she saw her husband surrendering to the ‘Sri Lanka’ Army, that they even called his name, but since then she has heard nothing about him. The relatives of the missing persons have made representation to various commissions appointed by the Government, to the U.N. and even to the former Prime Minister of Britain who visited Jaffna, without success. Some of them are now keeping vigil for more than 150 days seeking an answer from the government as to what happened to their loved ones. According to the UN, ‘Sri Lanka’ has the second highest number of enforced disappearances in the world. ‘Sri Lanka’ uses arbitrary arrests and ‘white van’ abductions to terrorise mostly Tamils. Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment after his visit to ‘Sri Lanka’ in December,2016 has stated that he witnessed ‘white Van abductions’ by officers in plain clothes. With regard to the ‘Office of the Missing Persons’, relatives of the missing persons and civil societies were not consulted and the Prime Minister has stated in the Parliament that no criminal action will be taken against any person and that it will only be in the nature of a fact finding mission. The new government lead by the President Maithripala Srisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe has only made some cosmetic changes in governance and the promise of a new Constitution remains a myth. Therefore we appeal to the U.N. and the International Community to take a pro-active role and insist upon the ‘Sri Lanka’ government to implement its undertakings through its Consensus Resolution in the UNHRC, sign and ratify Rome Statute and to respect its obligations. Tvungen forsvinning «Tvungen forsvinning er en forbrytelse mot menneskeheten», ble det hevdet i Roma-statuttet fra 1998 som la grunnlaget for den internasjonale straffedomstolen. Tvungen forsvinning forblir i dag en av de mest avskyelige og forkastelige forbrytelser begått mot Eelamtamiler av det Srilankesiske militæret. Ifølge rapporten til FN gruppen som jobber med tvungen eller ufrivillig forsvinning av personer, finnes det 12,460 saker eller tilfeller av forsvinninger. Bare 6575 av disse sakene har den srilankiske regjeringen avklart. Det er trist å legge merke til at mange av disse avklaringene er én eller to setninger fra Politiet som f.eks «Klage mottatt av kona til den savnede personen». En A-rapport blir levert inn til en lavere rettsinstans. A-rapporten forblir i retten uten å løses, med mindre ytterligere informasjon blir innsendt til retten. Ifølge FN, har Sri Lanka det nest høyeste antallet tilfeller av tvungen forsvinning i verden og benytter seg av vilkårlige arrestasjoner og bortførelser i ukjente biler som gjerne blir omtalt som «White van abductions»; en ukjent bil med offiserer i sivile klær som dukker opp og bortfører mennesker. Vi appellerer derfor til FN og det internasjonale verdenssamfunnet om å iverksette en pro-aktiv rolle og insistere på at Sri Lanka sin regjering gjennomfører det de har sagt gjennom konsensusen i resolusjonen i menneskerettighetsrådet (UNHRC), og at de skal signere Roma-statuttet og respektere dens forpliktelser. Tamil Coordinating Committee (TCC) & Landsråde for Eelam Tamiler (NCET)
