Mass Protests in the North and East Over Enforced Disappearances
31-Aug-2025.
Marking the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, large-scale demonstrations and protests were organized in the North and East by relatives of the disappeared, demanding accountability and justice.
The events, organized by the Northern and Eastern Association of the Families of the Disappeared, took place on 30 August 2025 in Semmaniy, North, and Gandhi Park in the East. Families of the disappeared, religious leaders, representatives of civil organizations, university students, political leaders, and members of the public participated.
In Jaffna, protesters gathered at Kittu Park around 10 a.m. before marching through Semmani Road towards the Sitthupathy area, where a mass grave site has been identified. They carried placards calling for international investigations into Tamil genocide, enforced disappearances, war crimes, and mass graves, chanting slogans for justice and accountability.
Messages included: “End the occupation,” “Ensure autonomy,” “If death certificates are the only answer from the military, then who were the killers?” and “What is the state’s response to the disappeared?”
The demonstration concluded with a memorial flame lit at the Semmani mass grave in honour of the victims. Leaders of the Association of Families of the Disappeared then handed over a petition to the UN Regional Office representative.
In Batticaloa, a memorial flame was lit near the old Kallady Bridge, commemorating the disappeared and those who died searching for their loved ones. A protest march then proceeded through Batticaloa town, with thousands of families carrying placards and photographs of the missing. The march ended at Gandhi Park, where a memorial was held for Tamil journalists killed in the line of duty, with another flame lit in their memory.
Participants rejected domestic accountability mechanisms and demanded an independent international investigation into enforced disappearances, Tamil genocide, war crimes, and mass graves. A petition addressed to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights was read out by Amalnagi, district head of the Association of Families of the Disappeared in Batticaloa.
