The chairman of the Sri Lankan government's Presidential Commission into Missing Persons said the authorities had not set a deadline to complete its investigations.
The commission was announced over two years ago, under the previous Sri Lankan government led by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa.
The commission’s Chairman Maxwell Paranagama told The Sunday Leader that the commission would not yet fix a date as to when it would conclude, stating that investigations were still ongoing.
Last month, marking the “The Day of the Disappeared”, Amnesty International stated that successive Sri Lankan governments have appointed and largely ignored commissions to investigate the issue of disappearances.
The government had previously announced the commission would release a second interim report, just days before the release of the UN's report, the OHCHR Investigation into Sri Lanka, which is examining mass atrocities committed on the island.
Mr Paranagama said the interim report would be handed over to Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena in the “near future”.
See related articles:
Successive Sri Lankan authorities have ignored commissions – Amnesty International (28 Aug 2015)
Govt's missing persons interim report to be released ahead of OISL (25 Aug 2015)
We need your support
Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.
Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view
We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.
For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.
