Responding to the UN Human Rights High Commissioner Prince Zeid’s call to disband the Sri Lankan Missing Persons’ Commission and assign its work to a more credible body, the Chairman of the Panel, Justice Maxwell Paranagama, contended that nobody else could do the job better. 

“We have been very transparent in our functioning. There were no armed forces or Police personnel in the room where people testified. We held several sittings in the Tamil-speaking north and east and Colombo and examined 19,000 people including 16,000 from the north and east. The response to our call for testimonies was so good that if we sent out notices to 300 for a session, 1,000 would turn up, and no one was turned away. Transport was arranged for people to go back to their villages if the sittings went late into the evening,” Paranagama told the New Indian Express.

“We also sent investigating teams to the complainants’ houses as a follow up measure and wrote to them about progress made in their cases. We inquired into the rehabilitation aspect and took action wherever the authorities were tardy in their response,” he added.

Paranagama said that a Special Investigating Team is to be formed under a retired High Court Judge to go into some cases.

“What more can we do?” he asked in anguish. “Nobody else can do better than us. People should realise the enormity of the task. It takes time to show results,” he said.

When former President Mahinda Rajapaksa established the panel, its mandate was only to go into disappearances. Later, when war crimes charges were made in the UNHRC, it was charged with investigating violations of International Human Rights and International Humanitarian Laws in the last phase of the war. 

Since work on the second mandate is still to be completed, the term of the commission has been extended to February 2016. However, the panel submitted a report to the Presidential Secretariat on 15 August this year.

“We are waiting for President Sirisena to come back from New York to officially present it to him,” Paranagama said.

Statement by Sri Lanka

Item 2 – Adoption of the resolution ‘Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka’ (A/HRC/30/L.29)

Mr. President,

I wish to thank all the members of this Council as well as Observer States, for the support that they have extended today for the adoption of Resolution 30/29 titled ‘Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka’, by consensus.

My delegation sees this resolution as a measure of encouraging and inspiring the Government and the people of Sri Lanka to travel the path it has already begun on 8 January, to uphold human rights, establish rule of law, end impunity, strengthen democracy and good governance.

In a clear departure from the past when this Council witnessed the Sri Lanka situation as divisive, today, the Council is joining my delegation to adopt a resolution by consensus, reflecting the common objective of my country, members of this Council and the larger community of stakeholders in Sri Lanka. 

This path-breaking outcome is the result of the courageous and confident leadership of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, and the commitment of the Government and people of Sri Lanka to uphold, promote and protect human rights, both civil and political as well as economic, social and cultural rights, in a manner that their benefits will reach every individual and every community living in Sri Lanka.

Mr. President, Sri Lanka is pleased to join as a co-sponsor of this resolution as a further manifestation of Sri Lanka’s commitment to implement the provisions of the resolution in a manner that its objectives are shared by the people and all stakeholders in the country, for their benefit. We are eager to commence wide ranging consultations for this purpose as soon as possible in a manner to expand the ownership of its content by all stakeholders. 

My delegation looks forward to join the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to report the progress made on the ground, as requested in the resolution, in time to come. 

Thank you.