The Sri Lankan government has announced it will “review” the Office of Missing Persons (OMP) Act, which was brought in by the previous regime as part of its commitments to a UN Human Rights Council resolution on accountability.
An official attached to Sri Lanka’s Justice Ministry told the Daily Mirror that the government had held a preliminary discussion on the act, though added: “it is too early to say whether it would be repealed or not”.
“We have to review it properly and then decide,” he said.
Though the previous government had pledged the OMP would be an effective mechanism to probe disappearances, Tamils across the North-East remained deeply sceptical, with families of the disappeared stating it lacked independence and failed to take their views into consideration.
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.