Saturday, 19th July 2014
The Presidential Commission investigating the alleged disappearances of persons in conflict affected areas has received 19,284 complaints, the Commission said. The Commission held several sittings to cover the Districts of Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and Batticaloa.
Secretary to the Commission H.W. Gunadasa has said that the Commission received a majority of the complaints during its public sittings in the north in January and February.
At the last sitting held at the District Secretariat in Mullaitivu, 398 persons registered with the Commission and 129 complaints of disappearances were filed.
The official has said that following the analysis of the submissions, the Commission if deemed fit, will summon the relevant politicians before it as the investigative body is empowered under its mandate to do so.
The Commission has so far received a total of 19,284 complaints from all parts of the country and 14,284 from the civilians and another 5,000 were from the relatives of missing members of the security forces.
The three-member Commission, chaired by Attorney Maxwell Parakrama Paranagama, comprises former Director General of Census and Statistics Priyanthi Suranjana Vidyaratne and former member of the Monetary Board of Sri Lanka Manohari Ramanathan. Both Paranagama and Ramanathan were members of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission.
The Commission has been given the authority to conduct inquiries and investigations necessary, and submit a report to the President.
From : http://www.ft.lk/2014/07/19/disappearances-commission-receives-19284-complaints/
