21 February 2022 08:39 am Views - 138
The Presidential Commission appointed last year to investigate and act upon the reports of previous commissions on alleged human rights violations in the country has recommended to investigate immediately the findings of the Paranagama Commission appointed in 2015 and to file court cases or provide compensation accordingly. With this and several other recommendations the second interim report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry for Appraisal of the Findings of Previous Commissions and Committees and the Way Forward was handed over to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa by Supreme Court Judge A. H. M. D. Nawaz at the Presidential Secretariat on Friday.
President Rajapaksa appointed the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) to investigate, inquire into and report or take necessary action on findings of preceding Commissions or Committees appointed to investigate into human rights violations, serious violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and other such offences on January 21, 2021. Supreme Court Judge A. H. M. D. Nawaz has been appointed as the Chairman of the Commission.
The first interim report of the Commission was submitted to the President on July 21, 2021.
In its 107-page second interim report, the Commission made a number of recommendations based on the testimonies of 75 residents of the Jaffna and Kilinochchi districts who had faced the war and who had related their experiences during the war.
President’s Media Division said in a statement that those who testified before the Paranagama Commission had requested the Government’s assistance to uplift their financial status and this has also been recommended by the Nawaz Commission. The statement further added that terrorists are not allowed to be commemorated but the Commission has recommended to grant the right to commemorate the deaths of relatives which occurred during the war in private.
Quoting Justice Nawaz the President’s Media Division said that the final report can be submitted to the President by June.
Secretary to the President Gamini Senarath was also present at the event where the second interim report was handed over to the President.