OMP Executive Director Attorney-at-Law Jeganathan Thatparan outlined the OMP’s mandate, progress, and challenges faced by the office, including issues of accountability, data management, family engagement, and ongoing investigations. He also responded to public concerns over delays, political criticism, and the scope of the office’s powers in delivering answers to affected families.
Q: What is currently happening with the long-standing issue of missing persons in Sri Lanka and the role of the Office on Missing Persons (OMP)?
A: The Office on Missing Persons (OMP) is a permanent institution established under an Act of Parliament in Sri Lanka in 2016 and has been functioning continuously since 2018. It is not a standalone body but the first of four key transitional justice mechanisms set up in the country. The other institutions include the Office for Reparations, the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation, and the proposed Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
The OMP deals directly with matters concerning human lives and was established to address long-standing unresolved issues related to missing and forcibly disappeared persons. Its creation also reflects Sri Lanka’s commitments under international treaties, including its ratification of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
Q: Are the affected parties satisfied with the functioning of this office?
A: Achieving satisfaction among affected families in a country that endured a 35-year conflict is a significant challenge. Since previous Commissions failed to deliver lasting solutions, there was initially limited public confidence when the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) was set up in 2018, with many viewing it as a continuation of earlier mechanisms.
However, the OMP is distinct in that it was created by an Act of Parliament, giving it a clear legal framework. The Act outlines that the office must function effectively in line with international obligations and with the participation and confidence of affected families. These principles form the core basis of its mandate.
Over time, as the office’s activities have become more visible and better understood, public engagement and participation have gradually increased. However, expectations remain extremely high. It is also a complex challenge for an institution established in 2018 to address issues that have remained unresolved for over three decades.
At the same time, the office continues to be viewed from different perspectives within society, and it has also faced criticism regarding its effectiveness and pace of work.
Q: What is the purpose and public importance of obtaining certificates of disappearance issued by the Office on Missing Persons (OMP)?
A: The primary objective of the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) is to determine what happened to missing persons. For families affected, knowing the fate of their loved ones is a fundamental right.
Once initial investigations are completed, the OMP issues a certificate confirming the status of the missing person. This serves as an official legal document and helps families avoid the need to repeatedly provide statements to multiple institutions, as the OMP conducts direct, individual interviews with each family and records their testimony in detail.
The office does not provide financial compensation or assistance, as that responsibility lies with the Office for Reparations. Instead, both institutions work in coordination to support affected families through their respective mandates.
The OMP’s core responsibility is to establish whether a missing person is alive or deceased and, where possible, clarify the circumstances of their disappearance. It also ensures that families receive the legal documentation arising from its findings.
While there was initial public scepticism towards the institution, acceptance has gradually increased over time as its work has become more visible. Public participation in the process has also grown.
Unlike earlier Commissions that focused largely on public hearings, the OMP adopts a more direct, family-centred approach by meeting relatives individually and systematically recording their statements.
Q: How does the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) use the large volume of data it has collected, and what actions have been taken based on it?
A: The law allows the OMP to continue investigations using evidence gathered by previous Commissions. However, a key challenge is that a clear legal definition of “missing persons” and “enforced disappearances” was only firmly established after 2018. As a result, older records often include a wide range of cases, such as persons missing due to natural disasters, persons who deserted military service, and other unrelated categories. The OMP’s mandate focuses specifically on cases linked to armed conflict, political unrest, and enforced disappearances.
Much of the earlier information existed only in paper-based records. The office, therefore, undertook a major exercise to digitise these documents and compile them into a unified database. This process has now been largely completed, and district-wise name lists have also been published based on the verified data.
Q: Despite the availability of extensive data, why has no Commission been able to fully resolve even a single disappearance case or establish accountability?
A: This is a difficult but important reality, and there are several reasons behind it.
The first is the transition from an informal, fragmented system to a structured and legally defined mechanism, which took considerable time. The second is that only around 27 persons or sub-groups have been identified as being potentially responsible for disappearances, making attribution complex and limited in scope.
There are also questions about the level of political commitment in earlier periods to fully pursue accountability. The current Commission has only been functioning within a proper independent legal framework since 2018.
Many of the cases are over 15 years old, meaning that physical appearance and other identifying details of persons involved may have changed significantly. This makes verification difficult without modern technological tools.
To establish the status of a missing person, multiple forms of evidence must be considered, including family testimony, documentary records, and technical or forensic information.
In the past year alone, the Commission determined the fate of 27 persons. However, it does not have the mandate to conduct criminal investigations.
That responsibility lies with other investigative authorities, and effective progress requires coordination between institutions.
Q: What steps have been taken in response to families who claim, with supporting evidence, that their relatives were handed over to the military?
A: The concerns raised by these families are considered valid, and their cooperation is essential in moving investigations forward.
The Office on Missing Persons (OMP) also holds records relating to persons who were reportedly handed over or who surrendered. In addition, data covering the period from 1969 to 2016 exists within State institutions, including certain records maintained securely by the tri-services, given the national security sensitivities involved. In some instances, affected families have initiated private legal action. In such cases, the OMP participates in a supportive capacity by providing relevant information and acting as an observer.
The office also collaborates through a Coordination Task Force established at the Presidential Secretariat, working alongside 28 State institutions to facilitate information sharing and case progress.
Q: What steps does the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) take in exceptional cases, such as when one mother identified her son’s photograph in the LLRC report?
A: Such cases are treated as eyewitness testimony and are taken very seriously by the Office on Missing Persons (OMP).
The office cross-checks information through multiple verified sources. This includes data-sharing arrangements with rehabilitation centres, where records of persons who were processed during the final stages of the conflict are maintained. These databases are systematically compared to identify possible matches.
In addition, the OMP conducts searches across multiple data fields—around 12 different parameters—to minimise errors arising from name variations, transliterations, or spelling inconsistencies.
The office also works in coordination with prisons, detention records, and the Human Rights Commission to verify claims and trace possible outcomes. Where relevant, information is triangulated across these institutions to strengthen accuracy before conclusions are drawn.
Q: Are there ongoing investigations into cases involving people allegedly taken away in buses during the final phase of the war, including the list of 110 persons submitted by Yasmin Sooka?
A: There are several reports and ongoing inquiries related to these incidents, including a case currently being heard in Vavuniya. However, these matters fall primarily within the criminal justice system.
The Office on Missing Persons (OMP) does not have the mandate to conduct criminal investigations or prosecutions directly. Instead, it has proposed the establishment of a dedicated prosecuting authority to handle such cases.
Given the present framework, the office said that justice can only be pursued effectively through established and internationally recognised legal mechanisms. Within its mandate, the OMP continues to conduct searches in prisons and detention centres.
It is also actively contributing to investigations related to 15 mass grave sites, working alongside other relevant authorities.
Q: Is it realistic for the Minister of Justice to state that 10,000 cases can be completed by 2027?
A: The total number of case files stands at around 21,000. In September, Parliament allocated Rs. 375 million to strengthen and accelerate investigations. In response, 25 investigation teams comprising 75 officers have been deployed to expedite the process.
So far, 1,200 investigations have been completed, while approximately 7,800 were concluded in the previous year alone. A strategic plan is in place to complete the remaining 11,000 initial investigations by 2027, after which follow-up investigations and compensation-related processes will continue.
Q: How do you respond to criticism from some Tamil political leaders that this office is merely a symbolic mechanism aimed at misleading the international community?
A: The issue of missing persons is not confined to any single community; it affects all 25 districts and people from all ethnic and social backgrounds. In the past, it has also been politicised and used for electoral purposes.
The office maintains a neutral approach and engages with Tamil political parties as well as Parliamentary oversight committees by sharing relevant information. At the international level, progress reports are also submitted directly to the United Nations, ensuring transparency in its work..
Pic by Dushmantha Mayadunne/ Sunday Observer