Return to War - Human Rights Watch

Since its establishment in 1980, the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or
Involuntary Disappearances has received over 13,000 cases from Sri Lanka. 82 As of
March 2007, the working group had 5,749 outstanding cases. 83
In the mid-1990s the government established four different commissions to
investigate enforced disappearances. In total they recorded 27,000 complaints and
issued findings on 18,000 “disappearance” cases. The government issued over
15,000 death certificates and provided more than 12,000 families with
compensation, but commission findings led to very few prosecutions, and there were
only a handful of convictions of low-ranking officers. The state accepted some of the
commissions’ recommendations, including the establishment of a special unit for
“disappearances” in the police and prosecutor’s office and a legal mechanism for
issuing families of victims with death certificates and compensation.
At the same time, impunity for enforced disappearances did not stop, as security
officials, including commanders, remained largely unaccountable for the massive
crimes of the past.
Over the past two years, enforced disappearances and abductions have returned
with disturbing regularity to Sri Lanka. The overwhelming majority of victims are
Tamils, although some Sinhalese and Muslims have also been targeted. Since May-
June 2007, abductions of businessmen from the Muslim community for ransom have
been on the rise. Reporting of these abductions to the police or other agencies
remains low, largely due to fear and because family members try to secure release by
paying ransom.
The precise number of enforced disappearances and abductions since the
resumption of major hostilities remains unknown, but available data suggests it is
extremely high. The national Human Rights Commission recorded roughly 1,000
cases in 2006, plus nearly 100 abductions and “disappearances” in the first two
82 “ICJ Urges Sri Lanka to Ratify Convention against Enforced Disappearances,” International Commission of Jurists press
release, January 24, 2007, http://www.icj.org/news.php3?id_article=4096&lang=en (accessed May 29, 2007).
83 Interactive dialogue at the Human Rights Council with the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances,
March 21, 2007.
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Human Rights Watch August 2007