Two additional commissioners will be appointed to the Presidential Commission Investigating Cases of Missing Persons (PCICMP) in Sri Lanka to conduct investigations and prepare the final report by the stipulated deadline.
President Maithripala Sirisena is expected to appoint a retired judge and a retired senior officer from the administrative service within this week to help the three-member commission investigate thousands of complaints it has received.
Missing Persons Commission Chairman retired Justice Maxwell Paranagama said the President will make the appointments within this week. A five-member investigation team of retired police officers will also be appointed to the Commission along with the two commissioners.
The Commission had been given the authority to conduct inquiries and investigations into the alleged abductions or disappearances that occurred from1983 to 2009 and submit a report to the President. Since its establishment on August 15, 2013, the Commission had received 16,213 complaints from civilians and another 5,000 complaints from relatives of missing security forces personnel.
The Commission has heard oral evidence of nearly 1,440 complainants during public sittings held in Northern and Eastern provinces. The Commission submitted its interim report to President Sirisena in April and is expected to present its final report before September, in time for the UN Human Rights Council Sessions, fulfilling a pledge given by Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera to UN Human Rights High Commissioner Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, seeking a deferral of a war crimes report on Sri Lanka last March
– CDN: