Chasing Tails: Establishing the Right to Truth, Mourning and Compensation

Abstract

This article scrutinizes the possibility of introducing the right to truth and the right to mourn in Sri Lanka as an integral component of a right to an effective remedy that can be afforded to the family members of the victims of enforced disappearances. The first segment considers the existing international legal jurisprudence on the right to truth especially drawn from Latin American jurisdictions where such a right has been introduced in the light of the enforced disappearances. The second section analyzes the possibility of introducing right to mourn as a component of both the right to an effective remedy and the right to truth. The Sri Lankan experience regarding the same has been extensively relied on and certain clarifications are provided herein to raise awareness regarding the right to mourn. This paper seeks to establish the right to mourn as a right that can be exercised in public in accordance with the wishes of the victims. The final segment seeks to identify the mechanisms used in providing compensation to victims of violations in general and reliance is placed on both international and domestic jurisprudence pertaining to payment of compensation.