Missing Persons Commission begins visiting houses in north

Wednesday, 7 October 2015 00:02 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Shanika Sriyananda

The five-member investigative team of the Presidential Commission Investigating Cases of Missing Persons (PCICMP) has started visiting houses of the complainants of missing persons in the north.

In their two-week long inquiring process which began yesterday, they will be visiting 75 houses of complainants in Vavuniya, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and Jaffna.

“Following the oral evidences taken at the public sittings, the PCICMP wants to gather more evidence into the cases of alleged disappearances and missing persons,” PCICMP Chairman retired High Court Judge Maxwell Paranagama told the Daily FT.

The PCICMP, with over 23,000 complaints – over 18,000 complaints on disappearances have been lodged by the civilians and over 5,000 complaints of disappearances have been lodged by the relatives of security forces – is mandated to investigate into incidents of missing persons from 1983 to 2009.

Five well-experienced Police officers will carry out their investigations under the supervision of a retired High Court Judge.

“The oral submissions, which were recorded during the public sittings held in various districts of the country, are being sorted out to identify the cases which should be investigated for further action. These cases have been handed over to the investigative team, which will go to the complainants’ houses to get more insights into their complaints on their missing relatives,” he said.

The PCICMP, which is also known as the Paranagama Missing Persons Commission, is headed by retired High Court Judge Maxwell Paranangama and comprises Suranjana Vidyaratne, Mano Ramanathan and two other additional Commissioners – retired High Court Judge Tillekeratne Ratnayake and Retired Ministry Secretary H. Sumanapala – who have been appointed by President Sirisena to expedite the investigation process.

According to Paranagama, the investigative team, if required, will also visit the military camps in the north following the statements of the complainants.