Mothers of the Disappeared
காணாமல் ஆக்கப்பட்டோரின் தாய்மார்கள்
This page does not speak for the Mothers. It is not a representative body for them. It does not collect their testimony, hold their evidence, or claim to coordinate their movement. It records that the world has heard them, and points to the organisations that have stood with them since 2017.
A protest that has outlived governments
On 20 February 2017, Tamil women — mothers, wives, sisters and daughters of the disappeared — began a continuous roadside protest in Kilinochchi in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. The protest soon spread to Vavuniya, Mullaitivu, Mannar, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Jaffna. It has continued, in one form or another, for more than 2,000 days. Multiple participating mothers have died waiting for answers. They are demanding the same thing they were demanding in 2017: a credible accounting of what happened to relatives surrendered to, or last seen in the custody of, Sri Lankan state forces.
The right to truth
The mothers of the disappeared are not only grieving families. They are keepers of the right to truth — a recognised principle in international human rights law (UN General Assembly resolutions; the Updated Set of Principles for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights through Action to Combat Impunity). Their endurance has shaped every credible account of post-war Sri Lanka, including the OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL, 2015) and the work of UN Special Rapporteurs.
The organisations that stand with them
If you want to learn more, support, or cite the live work, please go to these sources directly:
- PEARL — Justice for Tamil Families of the Disappeared
The most comprehensive English-language resource on the women-led protest, the legal context, and the international advocacy effort.
- ITJP — International Truth & Justice Project (Sri Lanka)
Yasmin Sooka's project — 180+ documented post-war cases of torture and CRSV; benchmark survivor-evidence dossier.
- OHCHR — Sri Lanka country page
UN Human Rights Office documents, including the OISL Report (2015) and the January 2026 paper on conflict-related sexual violence.
- Sri Lanka Campaign — Release the List
Public-pressure campaign for disclosure of the names of those handed over to the Sri Lankan state in May 2009.
- Tamil Guardian — Tamil Families of the Disappeared coverage
Long-running frontline coverage in English.
A standing instruction to TLTE
No TLTE organ — Velicham, Aayvu, Maritime Desk, Magalir Avai itself — may publish names of disappeared persons or their families without explicit, current, written consent. No TLTE organ may aggregate numbers in a way that competes with PEARL or ITJP's authoritative records. No TLTE organ may invite survivors or families to disclose testimony to TLTE in lieu of the channels above.
Our role here is witness, archive, cite, signpost — and to refuse to let the silence become normal.
"The mothers of the disappeared are not only grieving families. They are keepers of the right to truth."