The chair of the Presidential Commission into missing persons, Maxwell Parakrama Paranagama, has dismissed criticism by the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) of translators used, as "not matters to make such a big issue about".
“My translator is a retired parliament translator and the other person is from the Legal Aid Commission, and both of them were translating. Of course they might have missed certain words but I don’t think that would make such a huge impact. These translators work from morning till evening and even if there are a few errors, these could be corrected and these are not matters to make such a big issue about. We are so transparent and as these parties cannot find any other mistake or shortcoming, they now have brought up the minor issues in the translators,” Paranagama told the Sunday Leader.
“Although the CPA had made these allegations, so far no one has complained to us that they were intimidated or threatened by the security forces in any way," he said, adding that the CPA "just want to find fault with everything that is done and undermine the government’s efforts."
On Thursday, the CPA expressed concern over the credibility of the Commission, arguing that its translations of witness statements were inaccurate and many of the questions were misleading. See here for more.
“My translator is a retired parliament translator and the other person is from the Legal Aid Commission, and both of them were translating. Of course they might have missed certain words but I don’t think that would make such a huge impact. These translators work from morning till evening and even if there are a few errors, these could be corrected and these are not matters to make such a big issue about. We are so transparent and as these parties cannot find any other mistake or shortcoming, they now have brought up the minor issues in the translators,” Paranagama told the Sunday Leader.
“Although the CPA had made these allegations, so far no one has complained to us that they were intimidated or threatened by the security forces in any way," he said, adding that the CPA "just want to find fault with everything that is done and undermine the government’s efforts."
On Thursday, the CPA expressed concern over the credibility of the Commission, arguing that its translations of witness statements were inaccurate and many of the questions were misleading. See here for more.