Organization of Parents and Family Members of the Disappeared (OPFMD)
Press release
June 1, 2003
The Organization of Parents and Family Members of the Disappeared(OPFMD) organized a series of activities to commemorate the International week of The Disappeared. commencing the 25th of May 2003.Picketing before the Chinese Embassy in Colombo requesting the Government of the Peoples' Republic of China to accede to the just and democratic demands of the"Tiananmen Mothers" who are agitating for democracy and human rights and demanding that the perpetrators of the massacre of their children who peacefully demonstrated at the Tiananmen square in Beijing in October 1990 demanding democracy and human rights.
The OPFMD informed the embassy that a delegation of the OPFMD was coming to the Embassy to hand over a letter containing the above demands to the ambassador. Whilst we were peacefully picketing outside the Embassy at Bullers Road the Ambassador entered the embassy passing our picket line. We expected the ambassador to send and official either to take some of us to the Embassy or to accept our letter. Despite many a request made through the security officers at the gate no one from the embassy came to see us nor did they inform us that they were not accepting our letter. All requests made by us went into deaft ears and we had to leave the Embassy without handing over the letter.
The blatant rebuke of the Ambassador and his officers of the Peoples' Republic of China gave us the impression that China has ceased to be a "Peoples' Republic." We wish to tell those gentlemen that their country will never develop in the long run unless they foster democracy and guarantee the fundamental rights of the Great Chinese people.
The next item in our day's agenda was to picket before the Indian High Commission demanding the government of India to take measures to stop enforced disappearances in the state of Jammu and Kashmir and to prosecute the perpetrators of enforced disappearances in J&K. The cordiality with which we were received and the courtesy extended to us by the officials of the High Commission of India and the message left for us by the High commissioner excusing his absence due to very busy schedule manifestly expressed the difference between democracy and authoritarianism.
Shantha Pathirana
General Secretary, OPFMD
