S. Lankan police prevent march for disappeared Tamils ‎

Sri Lankan police prevented relatives of disappeared Tamils from staging a protest march in Vavuniya town to mark International Disappearance Day on Saturday, August 30. Shouting slogans against the government and military, the marchers gathered with the aim of handing in a petition at the town’s government secretariat.  But Achuthanaayar Eezham Cheguevara, co-secretary of Citizen Committee of Vavuniya said the police blocked their route. This led to an angry confrontation and the marchers’ attempt to take another route to the secretariat was foiled by more police blockades.  Vauniya police justified their action saying organizers had not sought official permission.  The protesters had to content themselves with handing the petition to Mavai Senathirajah as a representative of parliament. Both government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have been accused of widespread human rights violations during the 26-year civil war which ended in May 2009.  Achuthanaayar expressed the pain, frustration and anguish of the families of the disappeared, in their bid to obtain justice.   A committee created by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2010 to investigate war crimes, has been criticized as flawed and toothless by prominent human rights groups including United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner Navi Pillay and Amnesty International. (Source: UCAN)