As many as 60 per cent of complainants from the Northern Province who gave evidence to the Presidential Commission on Missing Persons have levelled allegations of forced disappearances against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
While 30 per cent of them made allegations against the security forces, armed and unknown groups were blamed by the remaining 10 per cent.
Interim reportThese are the findings of interim report submitted by the Commission to President Maithripala Sirisena on April 10.
Approximately, 2,500 persons in Northern and Eastern Provinces presented evidence to the panel. Of them, 1,500 are from the Northern Province, according to H.W. Gunadasa, secretary to the Commission, which was constituted in August 2013 by the then President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
The panel, till April 9, received about 16,150 complaints from residents in the two Provinces besides 5,200 complaints from families of the security forces.
Headed by former High Court Judge Maxwell Parakrama Paranagama, the Commission included Manohari Ramanathan and Suranjana Vidyaratna.
Judicial action requiredIts brief was to go into the complaints of disappearances or abductions that took place between January 1, 1983 and May 19, 2009, when the Eelam War IV was over.
Relying on oral submissions of relatives of missing persons, the Commission suggested that the Attorney-General institute judicial action into the reported cases of forced disappearances and abductions alleged to have been committed by officers of the security forces, a release of the Commission stated.
The panel also recommended an investigation by a special team to go into four “grave incidents — Sathurukondan and Eastern University massacres of 1990, alleged to have been carried out by the security forces; and the massacre of 600 policemen in Ampara and that of Muslims in Kurukalmadam, both said to have been executed by the LTTE, the secretary said.
Mr. Gunadasa referred to “non-cooperation” of the Ministries of Defence and Justice in providing names of persons who were said to have been in custody of prisons, detention camps, refugee camps and rehabilitation centres and said the panel has decided to summon officials of the two Ministries.
Assistance inadequateThe Commission also noted that livelihood assistance provided to families of missing persons was “far from adequate for the purpose of rebuilding their lives.”
When asked about to the Commission’s findings, R. Sampanthan, leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) expressed inability to comment as he had not seen the report.
The TNA once held the position that the LTTE would be the “most effective negotiator” on behalf of Tamils.
