Sri Lanka Government on Wednesday said it would expand the investigations into those reported missing during the war between Tamil Tiger rebels and the country’s military.
The government made this known in statement, that four teams would be appointed to the Presidential Commission Investigating Cases of Missing Persons (PCICMP) to conduct investigations into future deliberations.
The Chairman of the Commission retired High Court Judge, Maxwell Paranagama, said that the four teams would be appointed this week.
He said the appointments were in accordance with the recommendations made in an interim report which was submitted to President Maithripala Sirisena.
“The necessity of appointing these groups has been highlighted in this interim report and information relating to the groups, has already been given to the president,” Paranagama said.
According to the chairman, these four teams will investigate about 16,000 complaints.
“The three-member commission, investigating cases of missing persons, headed by the chairman, had been given the authority to conduct inquiries and investigations into the alleged abductions or disappearances, that occurred from 1983 to 2009, and submit a report to the president,’’ Paranagama said in the statement.
Appointed by the former government, the commission held sittings in the North and East of the country, and recorded statements from several people who had reported that their relatives were missing.
Report says most people were reported missing during ,the period of the war between Tamil Tiger rebels and the military.
However, the rebels were defeated in May 2009 after nearly 30 years of war.
