Untitled - International Commission of Jurists

(g) The relief if any that should be afforded to the parents, spouses and
dependents of the persons alleged to have been so removed or to have
disappeared;
And to make such recommendations with reference to any of the matters that
have been inquired into under the terms of this warrant.
The 1994 Disappearances Commissions regretted the fact that, despite having been
given extensions of their time period, they had not been able to finish their work. Due
to the fact that they were unable to enquire into all the complaints of enforced
removals they had received and a further 10,135 complaints submitted to the
Commissions by relatives and witnesses remained to be investigated, the All-Island
Presidential Commission of Inquiry was appointed in 1998. The mandate of this
Commission had a geographical reach extending to the entire country which was a
considerable improvement from its predecessor.
The 1998 All Island Commission adopted procedures similar to its predecessors to
inquire into the remaining 10,136 files handed over from the earlier Commissions.
The majority of the 10,316 files inquired into came from Kandy (Central Province –
3397 files), Kurunegala (North-Western Province- 1581 files) and Matale (Central
Province – 1042 files) and Anuradhapura (North-Central Province – 883 files). Files
from the North/East provinces were considerably less in number, totalling Jaffna-42
files, Batticoloa – 18 files, Kilinotchi – 8 files, Mannar – 1 file, Mulaithivu – 7 files,
Trincomalee - 9 and Vavuniya – 3 files. The Commission concluded that a further
10,400 persons had “disappeared” during the relevant period. Distinct patterns were
indicated in the “disappearances” and abductions. Thus, for example, at least 680 of
such cases were linked to the participation of such persons in legitimate political
activities. 323
The repeated involvement of perpetrators was clear: Thirty-seven persons were
credibly implicated in three or more incidents and an additional 37 were credibly
implicated in respect of two incidents. In one incident, alone, 270 persons were
implicated. 324 Twenty-seven persons implicated in grave human rights violations in
the findings of this Commission had also been implicated in the findings of the three
1994 Disappearances Commissions and other Presidential Commissions, including
the Batalanda Commission as well as the Special Presidential Commissions inquiring
into the assassinations of Brigadier (subsequently Lt General) Denzil Kobbekaduwe,
Lalith Athulathmudai and Vijaya Kumaratunge.
The chilling account below recounted by this Commission is emblematic of the
atrocities of that period:
Where the perpetrators were the agents of the State or paramilitary groups,
family members generally had no access to bodies for identification. In a few
cases, even where disappearances were at State hands, bodies were publicly
exhibited. For instance, a resident of Katupotha was taken into custody by the
police, tied to the rear of a jeep and dragged along the streets of Katupotha
323 Report of the 1998 All-Island Disappearances Commission, Sessional Paper No 1, 2001, at p. 10.
324 ibid.
93