Presidential Commission to Investigate into Complaints Regarding Missing Persons (PCICMP) will be disbanded on July 15, 2016.
The move comes as cabinet had last week approved the establishment of an office for missing persons, which will help several thousand families of missing persons across Sri Lanka to ascertain the fate of their loved ones, and the circumstances under which they went missing.
The Chairman of the PCICMP, Maxwell Paranagama told The Sunday Leader that following the establishment of the office for missing persons, the PCICMP will be disbanded after submitting its final investigation reports to the Presidential Secretariat. “We have so far investigated into 6,500 inquiries of missing persons who were affected by war during the period of June 10, 1990 and May 19, 2009,” Paranagama said.
He further stated that officers will be appointed to the office for missing persons and the PCICMP is unaware of who they are and what their duties will be on finding the victims who were abducted from their places of residence or had disappeared from their places of residence.
The permanent office will ensure that measures are taken and recommendations made to find information on missing persons and Sri Lankans will have no more fear of being disappeared into thin air.
by Hafsa Sabry
SL