OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT SIRISENA ON PROPOSED MISSING PERSONS OFFICE
(Disappearances in Sri Lanka (c)sunanada deshapriya)
H.E. President Maithripala Sirisena,-09/05/2016
We the undersigned wish to place on record the most urgent of our concerns and recommendations with respect to the proposed Office of Missing Persons (OMP), which we understand the government intends to establish in the near future. We strongly suggest that the Government rename the proposed Office as ‘Office of Missing and Forcibly Disappeared Persons’, so as to reflect accurately the mandate of the body. Further, we note with disappointment that the government has not yet shared its ideas for this mechanism with victims, civil society and the wider public. We therefore urge that it be done urgently.
We are also concerned about, and would like to draw the Government’s attention to continuing incidents of harassment and intimidation of victim families and activists that are not helpful in creating a conducive environment for public consultations or operationalization of the OMP mechanism. The continued use of the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), the lack of due process in carrying out arrests and resuming the use of white vans in the past month have heightened the sense of fear and insecurity among affected people.
