Pillay meets families of the disappeared

By Ananth Palakidnar-Wednesday, 28 Aug 2013

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay, yesterday said in Jaffna that she was extremely concerned about the disappearances in the North and East and assured, her office would work towards seeking relief and justice for the families of the disappeared persons. Pillay met Ananthi Elilan, the wife of former Trincomalee Political Wing Leader of the LTTE, Sasitharan, alias Elilan, at a briefing held at the UN Office in Jaffna.

Ananthi Elilan told Ceylon Today that she met the Rights Chief along with four others representing the families of the disappeared persons in the North.

"It was a brief meeting where Pillay listened patiently to our grievances. She even hugged and consoled a mother of a political prisoner who was allegedly assaulted to death during a prison riot in Vavuniya last year," she said. Ananthi Elilan, who is also a candidate for the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) at the forthcoming Northern Provincial Council (NPC) polls, said, prior to the meeting with Pillay, the Association for the Families of the Disappeared together with affiliates, staged a mass protest near the Jaffna Public Library yesterday.

Thereafter, four of the representatives of the Association, including Ananthi Elilan, were invited by the UN office in Nallur, Jaffna, for the meeting with Pillay.

"I explained to her in detail about the disappearances. She was very sympathetic and said she would study our case in detail and take the necessary steps to bring justice to them. She also said her office has given priority to the issue of the disappeared," Ananthi Elilan said. Meanwhile, Pillay met the Governor of the Northern Province, G.A. Chandrasiri, and discussed various issues with regard to the post-war situation in the North, yesterday. She was also briefed on the post-war humanitarian activities carried out by the government in the North.

Pillay also travelled to Paranthan, Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu with a heavy escort via the A-9 highway.

A group of people from the families of the disappeared persons gathered on the roadside with placards were dispersed by another group of people who appeared in civil clothes, sources said.

Pillay travelled extensively in the Mullaitivu District where she met the people directly affected by the war. She also visited the areas where the final phase of the war had taken place.

In Jaffna, a memorandum was also handed over to her by civil society representatives, on the alleged land acquisitions, indefinite detention of political prisoners, the grievances of the war widows and the families of the disappeared persons.

Navi Pillay meeting Tamils in Jaffna ended in eyewash, say Tamil activists

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 August 2013, 01:04 GMT]
The UN Human Rights Commissioner Navanetham Pillay met a group of 15 Tamil rights activists and civil representatives at the UN office in Jaffna. While she spent more time with the Sri Lankan State officials, the independent Tamil activists were given just 90 seconds each to present their cases under 8 different themes that included the cases of missing persons, detention of prisoners, land grab, colonization and attacks on religious institutions. 

The rights activists said they were not provided enough time to make their cases and complained that the entire tour has ended as another eyewash or even farce. 

The mother of Dilruxon, a Tamil youth, who was slain inside the prison in Vavuniyaa following a protest, narrated to Navi Pillay what had happened to her son in the Sri Lankan detention. 

In the meantime, the SL military and the Colombo Establishment had brought Sinhala protestors to stage counter-protests in Jaffna. 

The Sinhala gangs were held at standby at some halls in the city to launch counter-strikes. 

But, as Navi Pillay didn’t reach out to the Tamil victims who had gathered in front of the Jaffna Public Library, the Sinhalese ‘protesters’ didn’t have an opportunity to stage any counter-protest, informed sources told TamilNet.