Govt. tables Batalanda commission report

The Government today tabled in the House the Report of the Commission to Inquiry into the Establishment and Maintenance of Unlawful Places of Detention and Torture Chambers in the Batalanda Housing Scheme.

The Commission was appointed by then President Chandrika Kumaratunga in 1995 and the report was presented in 1998.It was published in 2000 as a sessional paper.

The Report was tabled by the Leader of the Home Minister Bimal Ratnayake.

In a statement to the House , Mr Ratnayake blamed the UNP which took power in 1977 for many illegal activities including using the July 1983 communal riots to ban the JVP and crack down on the dissent.

He said that many crimes were committed by the UNP government and the  maintenance of the Batalanda torture house was one of them.

He accused  Ms.Kumaratunga of failing to forward the report to the Attorney General for action, the reasons for which are now clear.

He said that the government would ensure that, so such incidents take place again.

He added that the report will be forwarded to the Attorney General for action.

A two day debate on the report too will also be held shortly.