Untitled - International Commission of Jurists
Untitled - International Commission of Jurists
Untitled - International Commission of Jurists
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Before and after 1948 and even after Sri Lanka gained republican status, commissions<br />
<strong>of</strong> inquiry were used for the purpose <strong>of</strong> inquiring into the conduct <strong>of</strong> persons holding<br />
public <strong>of</strong>fice. Receipt or disposal <strong>of</strong> tenders received in respect <strong>of</strong> the grant <strong>of</strong><br />
leases 207 ; allegations <strong>of</strong> bribery and corruption among the members <strong>of</strong> the Colombo<br />
Municipal Council 208 ; allegations <strong>of</strong> abuses in relation to or in connection with<br />
relevant tenders for government contracts 209 ; conduct <strong>of</strong> a naval <strong>of</strong>ficer alleged to<br />
have participated in smuggling liquor 210 ; alleged unlawful interception <strong>of</strong> telephone<br />
messages 211 ; administration <strong>of</strong> categories <strong>of</strong> local authorities 212 ; among others, cover<br />
a wide range <strong>of</strong> alleged errant public activities which were put under inquiry through<br />
the appointment <strong>of</strong> such commissions <strong>of</strong> inquiry. Employing such commissions for<br />
the purpose <strong>of</strong> inquiring into political incidents impacting on rights and later, into the<br />
specific purpose <strong>of</strong> grave human rights abuses, including mass disappearances, are <strong>of</strong><br />
relatively recent origin.<br />
The following analysis <strong>of</strong> commissions established to inquire into serious human<br />
rights violations is divided into three parts. The first part relates to <strong>Commission</strong>s<br />
appointed prior to 1994 to inquire into abuses committed either wholly or partly<br />
during the same period in which they were established. These bodies were, namely,<br />
the Sansoni <strong>Commission</strong>, the Kokkadicholai <strong>Commission</strong>, the <strong>Commission</strong> <strong>of</strong> Inquiry<br />
into the Incident alleged to have occurred on the Palampiddi-Iranai Iluppaikulam-<br />
Vavuniya Road on 03.05.1991 and the Presidential <strong>Commission</strong>s <strong>of</strong> Inquiry into the<br />
Involuntary Removal <strong>of</strong> Persons (1991-1993).<br />
Generally, these bodies were appointed for the purpose <strong>of</strong> investigating specific<br />
incidents <strong>of</strong> human rights violations, rather than wide scale disappearances which<br />
would be a feature <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Commission</strong>s grouped in the second stage. The one<br />
exception to this rule was the 1991-1993 Presidential <strong>Commission</strong>s <strong>of</strong> Inquiry into the<br />
Involuntary Removal <strong>of</strong> Persons, which, as will be discussed below, lacked the<br />
necessary elements, including political will, to constitute an effective inquiry that<br />
would lead to remedies.<br />
The second part <strong>of</strong> the analysis relates to the key commissions appointed during the<br />
post-1994 period to inquire into generalized patterns <strong>of</strong> enforced disappearances or<br />
involuntary removals primarily during a previous political regime. These comprise the<br />
three 1994 Disappearances <strong>Commission</strong>s and the 1998 All-Island Disappearances<br />
<strong>Commission</strong>. Though not classic ‘truth commissions,’ the establishing <strong>of</strong> these<br />
commissions reflected widely prevalent expectations <strong>of</strong> truth, healing and<br />
reconciliation.<br />
The creation <strong>of</strong> these commissions was identified with the impetus for reform that<br />
swept the government <strong>of</strong> Chandrika Kumaratunge into power in 1994 on a political<br />
platform aimed at negotiating a peace settlement and an emphatic rejection <strong>of</strong> the<br />
207 Wickramasinghe v. Crossette Thambiyah, 29 CLW 69.<br />
208 De Mel v. De Silva, [1949] 51 NLR 105 (Divisional Bench), on a question reserved by a single<br />
Justice [1949] 51 NLR 282.<br />
209 In Re Ratnagopal [1968] 70 NLR 409 and in appeal to the Privy Council, [1969] 72 NLR 145.<br />
210 AG v. Chanmugam [1967] 71 NLR 78.<br />
211 Dias v. Abeywardene [1966] 68 NLR 409.<br />
212 Silva and others v. Siddique and others [1978-79] I Sri LR 166 and Mendis, Fowzie and others v.<br />
Goonewardene, [1978-79] II Sri LR 322.<br />
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