Lanka to release details of detainees
14 May 2012 4:12 AM GMT
Sri Lanka on Sunday said it will release information on those detained by the country's forces since the end of the war with the LTTE, ahead of External Affairs Minister G L Peiris' visit to the US.
The Ministry of Defence here said that a decision has been made to release information on the detainees, saying the details will be revealed only to the close relatives.
The move is being seen as a response to the nation's reconciliation commission report. ‘A round the clock mechanism has been established by the Terrorist Investigation Division to provide details of the detainees and those who are already released’, an official statement said.
Release of information of those detained by the forces since the end of the war with the LTTE was a major cause of concern for the Tamil minority parties. Tamil parties claimed that those who surrendered at the end of the military conflict had disappeared without any trace.
The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) in its report made a number of important recommendation on the detainees.The report noted several instances of LTTE detainees remaining in detention without charges and in which next of kin were not notified.
It also asserted that no person should be detained outside authorised places of detention. The LLRC also had recommended the appointment of an advisory panel to monitor and examine detention.
The move comes ahead of Peiris' meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington on 18 May. The US had earlier urged the Lankan government to come up with an action plan on the LLRC recommendations, after it successfully adopted a resolution against Sri Lanka at the UN human rights council in March.
The resolution binds Colombo towards expeditious implementation of LLRC recommendations.
OPPOSITION READY FOR TALKS WITH TNA
Sri Lanka's main opposition United National Party (UNP) is ready to persuade the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to join the parliamentary select committee (PSC) if the government implements the LLRC recommendations to achieve reconciliation.
UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake was responding to a government comment that UNP must bring the TNA into PSC.
‘The government must initiate confidence building measures to take opposition into confidence. The UNP is ever willing to act for the welfare and security of the country and that of the people,’ Attanayake said.
The Ministry of Defence here said that a decision has been made to release information on the detainees, saying the details will be revealed only to the close relatives.
The move is being seen as a response to the nation's reconciliation commission report. ‘A round the clock mechanism has been established by the Terrorist Investigation Division to provide details of the detainees and those who are already released’, an official statement said.
Release of information of those detained by the forces since the end of the war with the LTTE was a major cause of concern for the Tamil minority parties. Tamil parties claimed that those who surrendered at the end of the military conflict had disappeared without any trace.
The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) in its report made a number of important recommendation on the detainees.The report noted several instances of LTTE detainees remaining in detention without charges and in which next of kin were not notified.
It also asserted that no person should be detained outside authorised places of detention. The LLRC also had recommended the appointment of an advisory panel to monitor and examine detention.
The move comes ahead of Peiris' meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington on 18 May. The US had earlier urged the Lankan government to come up with an action plan on the LLRC recommendations, after it successfully adopted a resolution against Sri Lanka at the UN human rights council in March.
The resolution binds Colombo towards expeditious implementation of LLRC recommendations.
OPPOSITION READY FOR TALKS WITH TNA
Sri Lanka's main opposition United National Party (UNP) is ready to persuade the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to join the parliamentary select committee (PSC) if the government implements the LLRC recommendations to achieve reconciliation.
UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake was responding to a government comment that UNP must bring the TNA into PSC.
‘The government must initiate confidence building measures to take opposition into confidence. The UNP is ever willing to act for the welfare and security of the country and that of the people,’ Attanayake said.
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