Commission to start hearings on 11,000 war missing in Sri Lanka
Saturday, 18 January 2014 00:00
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An independent presidential commission will begin hearings into disappearances of thousands of people who went missing during 19 years of Sri Lanka’s brutal war, an official said on Friday.
The Presidential Commission to probe alleged abduction and disappearances of persons resident in the Northern and Eastern Provinces during the period 1990-2009 will commence its first public sittings on Saturday, its Chairman Parakrama Paranagama confirmed to reporters.
Sri Lanka’s north and eastern regions were the most affected by the war that began in 1983.
The special Commission, which was appointed by Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa on 15 August, has received around 11,000 complaints from relatives of people who have disappeared between the years 1990 to 2009.
The complainants from the Kilinochchi area, which was the heartland of the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE) and saw some of the worst fighting, will be the first stop for the Commission where the families will have the chance to present their case at public hearings.
“The Commission will be covering the entire district during four days of sittings,” he added.
According to Commission records 6,014 civilians, have been reported missing in the north and east, while the rest are disappearances of army personnel who were stationed in the region during the war.
The Commission was appointed ahead of a crucial evaluation visit by United Nations Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay and is aimed at bolstering Sri Lanka’s human rights record ahead of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions in March.
The Commission initially were to collect complaints till 30 November but extended the deadline till the year end due to the high number of requests. Sri Lanka has come under fire by the international community for failing to investigate war crimes allegations and cases of missing people.
The Government headed by Rajapaksa has had two consecutive resolutions passed on it at the UNHRC and could be faced with a third in March.
