“Shut OMP, need justice not reparation,” says protesting Tamil mothers

Siva Parameswaran

War-affected Tamil mothers, wives, sisters, and the other family members of the enforced disappeared persons have demanded the dissolution of the Office for the Missing Persons (OMP) in Sri Lanka.

The Association for the Relatives of Enforced Disappearances (AERD) who are spearheading a peaceful protest for over 8 years now, has now questioned the relevance of the OMP-established by an Act of the Parliament-if they could not find out even one single individual who disappeared

The demand comes at a time when the OMP established in 2016 has called for applications to fill up certain member posts in their office. The advertisement for filling up those posts has been published based on the Act, in particular regarding the establishment of the office, administering, and managing day-to-day activities. The Department of Parliamentary Affairs announced recently that people who fulfill the required qualifications have been asked to apply.

“Applications should be submitted in the format given on the Parliament website (www.parliament.lk) under the link appointing members of the OMP,” the advertisement calling for members said.

The OMP boasts that its establishment marks a significant milestone in the efforts of the Government of Sri Lanka to address the issues of the missing and the disappeared. 

Members of the ARED have now reiterated if the government wishes to solve the issue of the disappeared persons, the OMP has to be dissolved. “That is our stand on the government initiative to fill up vacancies,” a statement from the ARED says.

The ARED-Association for the Relatives of the Enforced Disappearances in the North and East Provinces, a civil society group created to search for the tens of thousands of people who disappeared during Sri Lanka’s armed conflict- has issued a statement titled “Stand of the ARED with regard to calling of new appointments in the OMP. 

“In reality, if they desire to find a solution to the enforced disappearances, they have to immediately dissolve the inefficient OMP. Also, inquiries have to be conducted against the four important persons who were in charge of the posts where our relatives either surrendered, handed over, or arrested and the truth to be brought out. The military officers who were responsible for our relatives going missing are still alive and in positions. By immediately investigating them the truth should be found out. Only that would send a positive signal to us as we have been cheated continuously for years. Without doing that calling for applications to fill up vacant posts in the OMP makes us feel everyone is acting in tandem to deceive us”.

The statement signed by Yogarasa Kanakaranjani and Leeladevi Anandanadarajah two office bearers Association for the Relatives of Enforced Disappearances in the North and East has accused the new government of adopting the same strategy as the previous governments and they are unable to see any changes in their way of looking their problems. 

“The new government which came to power with the slogan of ‘change’ is approaching enforced disappearances, an important issue of the Tamils in the same way as the previous Sinhala governments”.

The Office on Missing Persons was established in 2017 with the aim of uncovering the truth about missing persons by the then government, which had ratified Resolution 30/1 on Sri Lanka adopted by the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Protesting mothers of the ARED say since the day the OMP Act was drawn and till today all actions of that office have been dictatorial without consulting or listening to those affected. Adding further they say the truth-finding mechanism should be taken forward with the participation of those affected. However, it is being taken forward without openness and in an authoritative and arbitrary manner they allege. 

In 2015 resolution number 30/1 was passed in the UNHRC to promote reconciliation, accountability, and improving Human Rights in Sri Lanka. The war-affected Tamil mothers while pointing out the importance of the four pillars of that resolution, Truth, Justice, Reparation, and ensuring non-recurrence, say after finding out the truth it should be subjected to judicial process. However, even after seven years of the OMP being in existence, the truth has not been found in a single case of enforced disappearance, they said in their statement.

The Office for the Missing Persons (OMP) functioning for the past seven years, has recently found out that 14 people are alive after screening through thousands of complaints.

A member of the OMP, Thambiah Yogaraja, in a media briefing in November 2024 has said, details about them cannot be disclosed now.

“Our office has confirmed the fate of 17 persons. Among them, 3 have died. We have collected the information regarding the balance 14. We have found out those 14 are alive. However, we are not in a position to reveal details about it now. After obtaining the approval of the concerned, action will be taken to reveal the respective details”. 

Speaking in Killinochi, the OMP member Thambiah Yogaraja added that the complaints received by their office have exceeded 20,000.

“Our OMP has received more than 21,630 complaints. Among them, there are duplicate entries and complaints received from the tri-service forces. After deducting those applications, 14,988 files with details were handed over to us for investigation, out of which initial investigation into 6, 788 cases have been completed. Amongst them, interim relief has been granted to 3,800. As such an amount of 200,000LKR has been awarded to each of the complainants”.

Reacting sharply to his comments, the Tamil mothers protesting continuously seeking justice question the very purpose of the formation of the OMP. They say the basic reason for establishing such an office was to render justice and not compensation. 

“What is the reason for neglecting the rendering of justice and opening an office for reparations? Is it their intention to shut up the poor people by paying compensation without finding the truth, thereby trying to show the number of disappeared less?” ARED questions.

The protesting mothers also raised the inefficiency of the OMP with what they call solid proofs. 

“On the 7th of July 2019, we submitted details of five persons who were victims of enforced disappearances. Without taking action on it they now ask for those details again after losing them. This is a classic example of how this office functions. In such a case what is the point of this office continuing in operation?” the Association for the Relatives of Enforced Disappearances in the North and East question in their statement.

The affected families and relatives of the enforced disappeared persons have repeatedly pointed out that the said OMP, which they have already dismissed as a sham, has not even found a single individual who had disappeared.

Tamils have dismissed the OMP as unacceptable to them and continue to stress an international accountability mechanism to find the truth and render justice to those affected and punish the perpetrators of alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The OMP has come under severe criticism that it is not even able to solve one case concerning missing tri-service personnel. If such is the case, how will they solve cases of missing Tamils which are over five times the number? question the elderly mothers. 

Elderly mothers who brave the sun and rain in continuing their peaceful protest, demanding an answer about their kith and kin, have also come under intimidation from the State agencies, a detailed statement from the AERD in 2023 said.

“Under the successive Sinhala majoritarian Governments, the mental torture and intimidation of mothers and female activists have intensified. The military came to our house and severely warned us not to participate in the protests. This is a critical dilemma for many mothers: whether to continue searching for the missing son/daughter or ensure the safety of the remaining children by not pushing them into danger, or to totally keep away from all activities. We undergo an enormous amount of racial discrimination at the hands of Sri Lankan officials. As they know that we participate in the protests, we are unable to get any benefit of Government schemes and loans from banks.”