Mahinda Rajapakse on Wednesday appointed a commission to investigate wartime abductions and disappearances, reports the Associated Press.
Rajapaksa's office said that the commission had the "authority to conduct inquiries and investigations necessary, and submit a report to the president within six months," with Rajapaksa reportedly stressing "the necessity to identify the persons responsible ... and to take legal action against those persons,"
The appointment of the three-member committee headed by retired Judge Maxwell Parakrama Parnagama comes ahead of a visit by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, who is expected in Sri Lanka later this month.
Pillay's office will update the UN Human Rights Council on Sri Lanka's progress in investigating alleged war crimes and human rights violations during the council's next session in September.
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