Our struggle will continue until justice and accountability are ensured
01-Sep-2026.
Every time a mother who has been campaigning for justice for the forcibly disappeared dies without receiving an answer, another piece of evidence for future justice disappears.
Regardless of the circumstances, our struggle will continue until justice, accountability and guarantees of non-recurrence are ensured for us, said Kanagaranjani Yogarasa, President of the Association of Relatives of the Enforced Disappeared in the North and East.
She made these remarks while delivering the keynote address at an event organised by the relatives of the forcibly disappeared at the Thanthai Selva Auditorium in Jaffna on August 30, 2026, to mark the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.
She further said:
The conference organised yesterday is not an ordinary conference. Rather, its objective is to make the international community hear the voices that have gone unheard for many years.
This struggle began with the tears of mothers who took to the streets many years ago. Over the years, a large number of mothers have died without receiving an answer. Yet the question, "Where are our loved ones?" remains alive.
The fact that we still do not know what happened to our loved ones, where they are, and, if they are no longer alive, who was responsible for what happened to them, is a great tragedy.
In the matter concerning the enforced disappearance of our relatives, we do not accept the Office on Missing Persons. Our objective is not to oppose any particular institution.
However, the Office on Missing Persons can never serve as an alternative to a criminal justice mechanism for our loved ones.
Senior officials who are credibly suspected, on the basis of reliable evidence, of having been involved in enforced disappearances must be investigated. Evidence must be preserved. Those responsible must be brought before the law.
At the same time, the involvement of the international community is essential to rebuilding confidence among the affected people on this issue. Regardless of how unfavourable the global political and economic situation may be, the international community must act responsibly on the issue of enforced disappearances.
Every time a mother who has been campaigning for justice dies without receiving an answer, another piece of evidence for future justice disappears. Regardless of the circumstances, our struggle will continue until justice, accountability and guarantees of non-recurrence are ensured, she said.
