Talks with President’s Secretary next week :

Counselling service for kith and kin of missing persons

by Manjula Fernando

Officials of the Commission on Missing Persons will meet the President’s Secretary Lalith Weeratunga next week to discuss the setting up of a counselling service for relatives of those missing.

The President’s Secretary chairs the Committee Monitoring the Implementation of the National Plan of Action of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission.

The chairman of the Commission, Justice Maxwell Paranagama said that some of the relatives of those missing were extremely traumatised by their experiences and were still in the hope of meeting their loved ones.

The Commission has felt the need for an expert service to address their grief. The ICRC has been invited to train locals on counselling and the trained counsellors will be posted to stations in Kilinochchi, Jaffna, Mullaitivu, Mannar and Batticaloa in the North and the East to work with the affected families. Justice Paranagama said the Commission has begun investigating 1,500 serious complaints out of nearly 20,000 received. Of the complaints received so far, 5,600 are from the Security Forces members while 14,000 are those of missing civilians.