President to receive second interim report of Commission on Missing Persons

The Chairman of the Presidential Commission to Inquire into Complaints on Missing Persons, Maxwel Paranagama will hand over the second interim report of the Commission to President Maithripala Sirisena on Friday. Mr. Paranagama told media that the first interim report was handed over to the President on April, 10 and that the government had taken steps to implement its recommendations. The three-member Commission appointed by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa on August 15, 2013 was mandated to Inquire into Complaints on Missing Persons and ascertain their fate, responsibility and whereabouts from 1983 to May 2009 and to ascertain the crimes allegedly committed during the last stages of the war with a view to accountability and responsibility. “We handed over the First Mandated Interim Report in April and the Second Mandated Interim Report will be handed over to President Sirisena on Friday. It will mainly deal with the issues of the violation of the International Humanitarian Law or War Crimes allegedly committed by both parties and the recommendations to prevent a repetition,” Mr. Paranagama said. The Commission conducted public sittings in Kilinochchi (twice), Jaffna, Mullaitivu (twice), Batticaloa (twice), Mannar, Vavuniya, Trincomalee (twice) and Ampara. The Commission had received in excess of 20,106 complaints inclusive of about 5,200 complaints from the relatives of missing security forces personnel. The Commission had heard oral evidence on nearly 1,440 complainants during public sittings in Northern and Eastern provinces. Mr. Paranagama said the suspects named before the Commission during the public hearings had been referred to the Attorney General for appropriate action. Other members of the Commission are D.B.P. Suranjan Vidyaratne and Mano Ramanathan.