By Pamodi WaravitaThe Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) appointed recently to probe the findings made by various previously instituted commissions and committees of inquiry into alleged human rights and humanitarian law violations in connection with the three-decade war, has also been tasked with arriving at an accurate figure for the number of persons who went missing or disappeared during the war.However, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Secretary, Admiral Professor Jayanath Colombage told The Morning on 22 January that the numbers of missing persons which have been published so far have been exaggerated.“Some foreign politicians allege that there are 40,000 missing persons. This is a hugely exaggerated and unsubstantiated figure. Reports by the United Nations (UN) also offer conflicting views on the matter, where some say 70,000, others say 7,000. One of the key purposes of the new PCoI is to obtain a reasonably accurate assessment of the number of missing persons.”The said PCoI was gazetted on 21 January.Prof. Colombage also claimed that during the fog of war, many who are claimed to be missing now would have escaped by boat to other countries, where they are currently living under new identities.Meanwhile, the Tamil Makkal Thesiya Kutani (TMTK) Leader and Member of Parliament (MP) C.V. Wigneswaran alleged that the Government is merely attempting to buy time at the UN with the appointment of this PCoI.“The President should have taken immediate steps when he was elected. Why this sudden interest?” questioned Wigneswaran.The 2011 Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) which was set up following the end of the war in 2009 investigated enforced disappearances and abductions. Consequently, on the recommendations of the LLRC, the 2015 PCoI into Complaints of Abductions and Disappearances was set up.In 2015, the Consultation Task Force was appointed to look into transitional justice mechanisms, one of which was the Office on Missing Persons (OMP). The OMP’s Act, No. 14 was passed in August, 2016.The UN Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka (2011), the LLRC (2011) and the PCoI into Complaints of Abductions and Disappearances (2015) reports allege that at least some of those who had surrendered to the Sri Lankan military at the end of the war in 2009 remain unaccounted for up to date, with a majority of the cases being unsolved.The current PCoI was established to investigate preceding CoIs which have looked into human rights violations, identify their findings and recommendations, and recognize what future steps would have to be taken with regard to these recommendations, in accordance with the Government policy. The three-member PCoI is headed by sitting Judge of the Supreme Court, Justice A.H.M.D. Nawaz, Retired Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chandra Fernando and Retired District Secretary Nimal Abeysiri.
