Disappearances Commission holds public sittings in former Tiger strongholds
Monday, 7 July 2014 01:03
-
- {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Dharisha Bastians
The three-man Presidential Commission on Disappearances held public sittings in the former LTTE stronghold of the Mullaitivu District over the weekend, hearing hundreds of complaints from families of the missing, particularly in the final stages of the war.
The Commission headed by former High Court Judge Maxwell Paranagama and including commissioners Mano Ramanathan and Suranjana Vidyaratne, held two days of sittings at the Puthukuduirppu Divisional Secretariat on Saturday and Sunday.
The public sittings will continue at the Maritimepattu divisional secretariat today and tomorrow, before the Commission concludes recording statements.
The Mullaitivu District was the controversial final theatre of battle in the Government’s war with the LTTE.
Many of the family members told the Commission that their loved ones had surrendered to the military in May 2009, when the war ended, and have been missing since.
The Commission has held public sittings in several districts of the Northern and Eastern Provinces so far.
It has received over 13,000 complaints of missing people so far, the bulk of them civilians, but some complaints have also been about soldiers missing in conflict.
