Sunday, 09th November 2014
The Missing Persons Commission chaired by retired judge Maxwell Paranagama received 166 new complaints when it conducted sittings in the Mullaitivu District once again, over a four day period which ended last Tuesday.
Spokesman and secretary of the Commission, H.W. Gunadasa said that the Commission had invited 230 people who had submitted complaints when the commission conducted sittings in Mullaitivu on an earlier occasion, to be present and make oral statements.
However Gunadasa said that only 170 people had appeared before the commission to make oral statements. He added that the commission recorded statements from an additional five people apart from the 170 as they had spare time during the four days.
The Commission conducted the public sittings in the Mullaitivu District at Maritimepattu for two days and Oddusuddan over the following two days.
Since the establishment of the Commission on August 15, 2013, it has received in excess of 19,595 complaints including approximately 5000 complaints from relatives of missing security forces personnel.
The Commission has held public sittings during the months from January to October 2014 in Killinochchi, Jaffna, Batticaloa, Mullaitivu and Mannar. During these sittings, the Commission has heard oral evidence from 1099 complainants.
The recorded statements of these complainants are being analysed for further investigations through an independent investigative team.
The Commission has also held regular meetings with the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and have 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. (ER)
From : http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2014/11/09/over-160-new-complaints-in-mullaitivu/
