War crimes allegations
To run parallel with Missing Persons’ Commission investigations
Will be conducted under the new mandate
Tuesday, 2nd September 2014
Sri Lanka is to begin its own probe on war crimes allegations soon, states a Defence Ministry website, courtesy the President’s Media Unit.
It also states that Sri Lanka will soon begin a probe on alleged war crime violations parallel to the investigations being conducted by the Commission to Investigate into Complaints Regarding Missing Persons.
According to a report by Lankapuvath, the inquiries will go hand in hand with the investigations being conducted by the Presidential Commission on Missing Persons. The Commission to Investigate into Complaints Regarding Missing Persons’ Chairman Maxwell Paranagama told the media that the probe on alleged war crimes violations conducted by them will begin soon parallel to the public hearings of the Commission.
Paranagama said the Commission is making preparations to commence inquiries under the new mandate it was given.
He said there has been a proposal to conduct its next public sittings in the Kilinochchi district next month, but a final decision is yet to be taken on when to conduct the public sitting in Kilinochchi again.
The Commission held public sittings in the Kilinochchi district from January 18 to 21 this year and recorded evidence from 150 witnesses in connection with the 154 complaints scheduled for interviews.
In addition, the Presidential Commission has received 380 more complaints from the district.
The Commission expects to review the newly received complaints during the sittings next month and public statements will be recorded during this period. Since the establishment of the Commission on August 15, 2013, the Commission up to date has received in excess of 19,471 complaints inclusive of approximately 5,000 complaints from relatives of missing security forces personnel.
The establishment of the Commission to investigate disappearances is one of the recommendations by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission.
The Commission says it has held regular meetings with the International Committee of Red Cross and the United Nations Development Program and has obtained their views and experiences gained in other parts of the world particularly on matters relating to missing persons at the end of a conflict.
From : http://www.dailynews.lk/?q=local/home-grown-probe-begins
