Ananthi to brief Pillay about the disappeared
by Our Jaffna Correspondent-Monday, 19 Aug 2013
Ananthi Sasitharan, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) candidate for the forthcoming Northern Provincial Council (NPC) polls, described the newly set up Presidential Commission to look into disappearances during the final stages of the war in 2009, as unreliable, and said she would meet the visiting UN Human Rights Commissioner, Navaneetham Pillay.
Sasitharan said she would explain to the UN Human Rights Chief in detail, the surrender by civilians to the Security Forces at the final stage of the war in May 2009, and the subsequent disappearance of those civilians, including her husband, Elilan, who had been taken into custody by the security forces.
Ananthi, the wife of the LTTE’s former Trincomalee political wing leader, Sasitharan alias Elilan, was speaking at a press briefing held at the Jaffna Press Club on Friday (16).
She further said the Presidential Commission that was set up last week, to ascertain the number of persons who had disappeared during the final phase of the war, was meant to deceive the international community as well as the people of the North who had wanted justice.
She further said the Presidential Commission that was set up last week, to ascertain the number of persons who had disappeared during the final phase of the war, was meant to deceive the international community as well as the people of the North who had wanted justice.
“The President has set up a commission to look into the disappearances of people during the final phase of the war in a bid to pacify Navaneetham Pillay who is due in Sri Lanka soon. We have seen enough commissions of this nature, and none of them have produced any tangible results. The reports of those commissions are probably on a shelf without any action being taken on their findings. I am looking forward to meeting the UN Human Rights Commissioner, who will be visiting the island shortly, and explain the plight of the families of the disappeared persons. I am also one of the victims and a witness who had seen first- hand, the persons who surrendered to the Security Forces, including my husband, Elilan,” Ananthi said.
She emphasized that political prisoners who have been kept behind bars for years without any legal action being taken against them, should be released, and information on the thousands of innocent civilians who disappeared even before the final lap of the war, should be revealed.
“I have come forward to contest as a TNA candidate at the NPC polls, to strengthen the struggle of the civilians to find their loved ones who had disappeared,” she further said.
She added, irrespective of winning or losing at the NPC polls, she would continue to work for the civilians affected by the war.
“I have come forward to contest as a TNA candidate at the NPC polls, to strengthen the struggle of the civilians to find their loved ones who had disappeared,” she further said.
She added, irrespective of winning or losing at the NPC polls, she would continue to work for the civilians affected by the war.
