Large turnout at first international conference on enforced disappearances
01-Sep-2026.
Relatives of the forcibly disappeared declared firmly that their struggle would continue until they received an answer to the question of where their loved ones were, as a large number of them participated in the first-ever international conference on enforced disappearances held in Jaffna on August 30, 2026, with representatives of international organisations including the United Nations and Amnesty International in attendance.
August 30 is observed annually as the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. Every year, relatives of the forcibly disappeared from the Northern and Eastern Provinces conduct large-scale protests and marches on the day.
Accordingly, this year's international conference, organised by the Association of Relatives of the Enforced Disappeared in the North and East under the theme "The Long Journey for Justice", began at around 9.15 a.m. on August 30 with a procession in front of the memorial dedicated to the martyrs of the World Tamil Research Conference in Jaffna.
The procession commenced with a ceremonial flame being lit by an affected mother on a vehicle designed to resemble a "white van", carrying photographs of people who had been forcibly disappeared, symbolising white-van abductions and enforced disappearances.
A large number of relatives of the forcibly disappeared, religious leaders, political representatives, civil society activists and university students participated in the procession dressed in black and carrying torches.
Carrying photographs of their forcibly disappeared loved ones and chanting slogans demanding justice for violations committed during the war and continuing repression, they proceeded along Hospital Road towards the Thanthai Selvanayagam Auditorium in Jaffna.
Among the slogans were "Where are our disappeared relatives?", "Where are the relatives handed over to the military?", "No Office on Missing Persons", "No Office for Reparations", "We will neither forget nor forgive", "We demand an international investigation" and "We demand international justice for the Chemmani mass grave".
The conference subsequently held at the Thanthai Selva Auditorium was attended by a member of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, the South Asia Regional Director of Amnesty International, Members of Parliament Sivagnanam Shritharan, Thura irasa Ravikaran and Sreenesan, civil society representatives including Velan Swamigal, Ruki Fernando and Thyagi Ruwan Pathirana, as well as a large number of victims and relatives of those affected by enforced disappearances.
Addressing the conference, Kanagaranjani Yogarasa, President of the Association of Relatives of the Enforced Disappeared in the North and East, said this was not an ordinary conference, but an effort to make the international community hear the voices of the families that had remained unheard for many years.
She also said that although mothers who had been engaged in a prolonged struggle to learn the truth about what happened to their loved ones and to obtain justice for them had died, the question, "What happened to our relatives who were forcibly disappeared?" remained alive.
Meanwhile, a book documenting the history of the prolonged struggle by relatives of the forcibly disappeared for truth and justice, as well as their suffering, was launched. An exhibition containing evidence relating to enforced disappearances was also held subsequently.
