President signs OMP Act

• OMP to be under President’s supervision: Ravi 
• Repatriation Bill to come to Parliament soon  

 President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday issued a gazette notification setting up the much-awaited Office of Missing Persons (OMP).  

“I signed the Office of Missing Persons Gazette today,” Sirisena announced on his official Twitter account. “This marks another step forward in Sri Lanka’s path to sustained peace.”  

Former Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera presented the bill to set up the Office of Missing Persons over one and half years ago but the Government was slow to act on the legislation. A further amendment to the act was also passed by Parliament recently.

“It was the amendment which was passed three weeks ago that led to the President signing off on the act,” Foreign Minister Ravi Karunanayake told journalists at a press briefing held at the ministry yesterday.    

The country has been under pressure from the international community to set up the OMP which was part of its commitment to the United Nations Human Rights Council under resolution 30/1 to promote reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka. 

Karunanayake today said that the office will be under President Sirisena’s ministry. The Constitutional Council is now tasked with nominating individuals to run the OMP, the Minister said. Once the nominations have been received by the President, he will nominate the Chairman, Karunanayake explained. 

The Government has been under heavy criticism by the Opposition for moving to enact the law, while the international community has been critical of the slow progress in transitional justice. 

Karunanayake lashed out at critics today, claiming the move to set up the OMP displays the Government’s commitment to the reconciliation process. 

“The Office of Missing Persons is part of the transitional justice mechanism,” he insisted. However, he was quick to note that the OMP has the mandate to investigate incidents of disappearances that happened during the insurrection of 1970. 

“It also looks at the incidents during the time of the Sinhala insurrection; nobody talks about that,” he said. 

Addressing criticism levelled at the Government for betraying the troops, the Minister was quick to point out that members of the armed forces would be protected despite the establishment of the OMP. 

“Certain guys who have usurped the powers and done certain things feel vulnerable in this process. But all the armed forces who have done their job have nothing to worry about,” he assured.

“That has been the sagacity of the Prime Minister to not sign the Rome Convention,” he said.   

The Government is working towards bringing new legislation to enable reparation - the next step in the transitional justice process - within the next three months, Karunanayake explained. 

“Reparation will have a new bill in Parliament. The money was allocated earlier. It needs a new mechanism and that will be established through a new bill,” he said.