The Defence Ministry vehemently denies the accusations by the Human Rights Watch (HRW), which claimed that families of enforced disappearance and activists supporting them are under the microscope of the Sri Lankan Security Forces and intelligence agencies.
The HRW releasing its new report has claimed ‘Sri Lankan Security Forces and intelligence agencies have intensified surveillance and threats against families of victims of enforced disappearance and activists supporting them since Gotabaya Rajapaksa became the President in November 2019’.
Defence Secretary Maj. Gen. Kamal Gunaratne denying the allegations said apart from operating routine security network, the Security Forces and intelligence agencies were not engaged in monitoring any specific group of people. “They are not focusing any of those relatives of missing persons and we have not used any of the intelligence segments of the armed forces or the police to keep a tab on those families,” he said.
The Defence Secretary said the Security Forces and the Police were kept on high alert to ensure national security but not targeting any specific group of people in Sri Lanka.
According to HRW, activists working in six locations in the north and east with the relatives of the forcibly disappeared have told HRW that there has been a significant increase in Government surveillance and intimidation.
“Especially, we do not keep an eye on the relatives of missing persons or intimidate them,” he said.
Maj.Gen. Gunaratne said these allegations might be leveled against the country’s Security Forces to discredit the Government targeting the Geneva UN Human Rights sessions.
He said the entire intelligence network, which was functioned in isolation and was in disarray, was brought under a strong network following the directives of President Rajapaksa to face future security threats to ensure national security to prevent deadly incidents like Easter Sunday suicide attacks.
The Defence Secretary requested the HRW, New York based rights organization, to verify the authenticity of those who claimed that the families of missing people and their supporters were intimidated by the Sri Lankan Security Forces and intelligence agencies.
HRW in a statement alleged that security forces in Sri Lanka have intensified surveillance and threats against families of victims of enforced disappearance and activists supporting them. In a statement, it said that the “government should fulfill its commitments to the United Nations Human Rights Council to strengthen efforts to locate the “disappeared” and bring those responsible to justice.” Activists working in six locations in the northern and eastern parts of the country on behalf of relatives of the forcibly disappeared told Human Rights Watch that there has been a significant increase in government surveillance and intimidation.
“The families of Sri Lanka’s ‘disappeared’ have spent years waiting for answers, but with the Rajapaksa’s back in power, security forces are threatening them to drop their demands for truth and accountability,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director. “The government needs to stop the harassment immediately and abide by Sri Lanka’s pledges to the UN to uncover the fate of the ‘disappeared’ and provide justice to victims’ families.”