Office on Missing Persons commences operations

As a transitional justice arrangement, the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) has been established by an Act of Parliament with perpetual succession to investigate missing persons not only in the North and East, but also in other parts of the country. 

The OMP is a major milestone in the reconciliation process as it attempts to address the grievances, suffering and pains of those missing families through a truth-seeking and investigative process to ensure emotional closure and to assure lasting peace and reconciliation. The OMP commenced operations with the appointment of commissioners on 28 February 2018, said Ministry of National Integration and Reconciliation Secretary V. Sivagnanasothy.

The OMP will benefit all ethnicities and religions

Tears and pains have no ethnicity, religion or race. The missing families not only suffer because of their missing loved ones but also because they do not know whether they are dead or alive. 

The missing people not only belong to one district or one province but belong to all districts and provinces. They went missing in the ’70s, ’80s and in the ’90s including those who went missing during youth insurrections and during conflict encompassing civilians, soldiers, armed groups and journalists. The OMP as a first step seeks to investigate missing persons in the conflict-affected North and East including victims, civilians, armed forces and the Police. 

Commissioners assume duties

President Maithripala Sirisena as the Minister of National Integration and Reconciliation signed the Gazette Notification on 12 September 2017 and declared the operationalisation of the OMP Act with effect from 15 September 2017. 

In this context, the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) with seven commissioners have been appointed by President Maithripala Sirisena on 28 February 2018 on the recommendation of the Parliamentary Constitutional Council (CC) through a transparent and competitive process. 

Over 300 applications were screened by the Constitutional Council by taking into consideration the professional competence and exposure, ethnicity, religion and acceptance of diverse interest groups in the selection of seven commissioners. These commissioners are not only qualified professionals in human rights and humanitarian laws with investigative skills but also balanced personalities from different ethnicities, religions and genders.

Independence of the commission

Sirisena, in his capacity as both the President and Minister of National Integration and Reconciliation, on 28 February 2018 briefed the commissioners on the need to be fair and independent in their approach and said that the Ministry of National Integration and Reconciliation would provide all necessary support in terms of financial resources, office space and other facilities required to enable the Commission to commence its operation independently, objectively and impartially and to fulfill and accomplish the broad mandate set out in the OMP Act No. 14 of 2016, amended by OMP Act No. 9 of 2017. 

The OMP Commission is headed by Chairman Saliya Pieris, President’s Counsel (PC), a reputed human rights and constitutional lawyer while the other members include Dr. Sriyani Nimalka Fernando, a lawyer and well-known human rights activist, Major General (Rtd.) Mohanti Antonette Peiris, Jayatheepa Punniyamoorthy, a women’s rights activist, Somasiri Liyanage, a lawyer who has held senior positions in public service, Mirak Raheem a researcher on human rights and Kanapathipillai Venthan, human rights activist who has worked on human rights with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and other partners. 

Further, former National Policies and Economic Affairs Ministry Secretary M.I.M. Rafeek, a retired senior public servant, has been appointed as the Secretary to the Commission to facilitate the functioning of the commission.

Address grievances and provide redress and relief

The OMP Act provides for the searching and tracing of missing persons to clarify the circumstances in which such persons went missing and their fate; to make recommendation to the relevant authorities to reduce the incidence of missing persons; to protect the rights and interests of the missing persons and their relatives; to identify proper avenues to redress and to provide assistance to the missing persons or their relatives including psychosocial support; Setting up a database on missing persons; and setting up procedures and guidelines for the OMP. 

The OMP is not a law enforcement or judicial agency but a truth-seeking and investigating agency. According to Section 13 clause (2) of the OMP Act, the findings of the OMP shall not give rise to any criminal or civil liability therefore the OMP  does not have the mandate and intention to punish the offenders but it is a clinic or therapy to address human problems and build confidence, serving as a forum for listening to grievances, seeking the truth, tracing the missing and providing relief, reparation, psychosocial support and emotional closure, and is seen as a reconciliation process and forms a part of transitional justice, said Sivagnanasothy.

OMP in operation

The commissioners have met thrice to discuss the mechanisms and modalities and an office space has been allocated at the Ministry of National Integration and Reconciliation, No. 34, Narahenpita Road, Nawala as a transitional arrangement. 

Already 13,294 completed applications (Feedback Data Sheet) have been received island-wide through Grama Niladhari (GN) via Divisional and District Administration as at today. 

Further, applications (Feedback Data Sheet) are awaited to be received. A database has been developed to maintain missing persons’ records. Already, Rs. 1.4 billion has been allocated to the Ministry of National Integration and Reconciliation by the Parliament as a special Budget proposal for 2018 for the operationalisation of the OMP.

The setting up of OMP by itself is an accomplishment and clearly sets out a message that the Government is committed to the non-recurrences of such incidence. Based on investigations, the OMP can recommend to the Registrar General to issue a Certificate of Absence or Certificate of Death.

The OMP can be considered a transitional justice process with a truth seeking and investigation mechanism to search and trace the whereabouts of missing persons, recommend healing, reparation and psychosocial support and ensure non-recurrence with a view to promote reconciliation, peace building through emotional closure to redress the pain and wounds of past legacies, asserted Sivagnanasothy.