Presidential Commission receives over 19,000 complaints

The Presidential Commission investigating the alleged disappearances of persons in terrorism-affected areas has received 19,284 complaints, the Commission announced in the wake of President appointing three legal luminaries to advice the Commission in keeping with international standards.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday appointed an Advisory Council chaired by Sir Desmond de Silva with Sir Geoffrey Nice, and Prof. David Crane to advise the Commission.

The President's office announced the appointment of the international panel extended the scope of the mandate of the commission.

Secretary to the Commission investigating disappearances, H. W. Gunadasa said that the Commission received a majority of the complaints during its public sittings in the North in January and February.

At the last sitting at the District Secretariat in Mulaithivu, 398 persons registered with the Commission and 129 complaints of disappearances were filed.

The official has said that following the analysis of the submissions, the Commission if deemed fit, will summon the relevant politicians before it as the investigative body is empowered under its mandate to do so.

The Commission has so far received 19,284 complaints from all parts of the country and 14,284 from civilians and another 5,000 were from the relatives of missing members of the security forces.

The three-member Commission, chaired by Attorney Maxwell Parakrama Paranagama, comprises former Director General of Census and Statistics Priyanthi Suranjana Vidyaratne and former member of the Monetary Board of Sri Lanka, Manohari Ramanathan. Paranagama and Ramanathan were members of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission.