As a part of the continuing efforts of the Government of Sri Lanka to provide clarifications on the alleged cases of disappearances submitted by the UN Working Group on Disappearances, the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights has now provided an analysis of 47 possible cases of disappearances, which can be closed/clarified by the Working Group. The details of these cases have been forwarded to the UN Working Group by the Permanent Mission in Geneva.
Prior to their submission, the aforementioned 47 cases were compared with the findings of the following Commissions of Inquiry established by the Government of Sri Lanka and the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka to investigate the alleged cases of disappearances:
• Final Report of the Commission of Inquiry into Involuntary Removal and Disappearance of Certain Persons (All Island) March 2001
• Human Rights Taskforce Annual Report—10 August 1992 to 10 August 1993
• Human Rights Taskforce Annual Report—10 August 1993 to 10 August 1994
• Report of the Committee on Disappearances in the Jaffna Region of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, October 2003
Of the forty seven (47) cases clarified, there were:
• Four (4) cases where death certificates had been issued to the next of kin;
• Twenty four (24) cases where the person was found to have returned home as reported by the next of kin, and registered as returned by the 2001 Commission.
• Nineteen (19) cases where the persons were found in official custody having been arrested under the laws of Sri Lanka.
Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the UN
Geneva
16 December 2009