One Question, Two People, A Shared Pain
One question. I needed an answer to one question. Despite being used to meeting people and talking about difficult issues, it was not easy to ask this question. I had to make…
disappeared
The Right to Know
“I’m not worried about them. I want to know what happened to the one that has gone missing.” 70 year old Yogaradhi says she cannot remember when her grandson, Alfred Thinu, went…
The OMP and the Aspirations of Families of the Missing and Disappeared
The first permanent official body created to search and trace missing persons in Sri Lanka is the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) established under Act No. 14 of 2016. This was done…
In Their Absence: Families of the Disappeared Share Treasured Keepsakes
“Do you have anything that reminds you of your son/daughter/husband/grandchildren? Something that they used?” Mother/Father/Wife/Sister/Grandmother: “I have, son. I kept it safely. I washed my son’s blood-stained shirt, and kept it with…
Habeas Corpus
We returned to the place Where we were buried in a hurry “Let’s look for our bodies,” we said We searched the edge of the lagoon, the marsh Where uniformed men said…
The Process Behind OMP: Video interviews
The Office of Missing Persons (OMP) Bill was passed in Parliament without a vote, a short while ago. The setting up of the OMP was subject to much mainstream media coverage, most of…
Civil Society in the East appeal to UNWGEID for Demilitarisation
Featured image courtesy RightsNow Members of civil society, including families of those disappeared in Batticaloa, Ampara and Trincomalee have come together to issue a statement to the UN Working Group on Enforced and…