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Sri Lanka's president has appointed a three-member commission to investigate thousands of people who disappeared during a three-decade war ahead of a key visit by UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay, the President' s Office said here Thursday.
Thousands of civilians were abducted by masked armed gangs or simply disappeared during the brutal war between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE).
Despite numerous appeals to the government from the families of the disappeared people, no committee was appointed even though the war ended in 2009. "The commission has been given the authority to conduct inquiries and investigations necessary, and submit a report to the president within six months. In President Rajapaksa's instructions to the commission, he stressed the necessity to identify the person(s) responsible in cases where abductions or disappearances are found to have taken place and to take legal action against those person(s),"the announcement said.
Families of the disappeared also staged several marches in Colombo and elsewhere demanding investigations, which included handing over petitions with the missing people's names to the United Nations and the local Human Rights Commission.
In March this year, the Sri Lankan government also came under pressure at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), which passed a second resolution on the country for its lackluster human rights record, which included ignoring appeals to investigate abductions.
In November 2013, Sri Lanka will host the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which is the highest decision making body of the Commonwealth and is keen to improve its international image ahead of the event, say analysts.
UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay will also visit the island later this month.
