OMP missing in action
Feb 22, 2017
The topic of missing persons has being going on for a long time in our society. On 23rd August 2016, the Sri Lankan Parliament adopted the Act to establish an Office on Missing Person (OMP).
The OMP was created as part of a four-tier transitional justice proposal that comprises, alongside the OMP, a truth commission, a special court and a special prosecutor’s unit, and an office on reparations.
The establishment of the OMP as a discreet transitional justice mechanism dedicated to “the search for and tracing of missing persons and the clarification of the circumstances in which they went missing” responds to the humanitarian imperative of resolving over 16,000 reported cases of missing persons in Sri Lanka. Despite the appointment by successive Sri Lankan Presidents of several Commissions of Inquiry (CoIs) to look into the issue and investigate these cases, thousands of families are still unaware of the fate of their loved ones. Past committees were marred with allegations of unprofessional and unethical behavior on the part of their staff. These Commissions were also criticized for their lack of independence and efficiency. In this context, the creation of the OMP was received with high expectations in some corners and disillusionment in others. For many, the first few months of the Office’s tenure and the first steps that it will undertake in the fulfillment of its mandate will be crucial in determining whether it will break away with the poor record of previous Committees.
The Office’s mandate encompasses the search for and tracing of missing persons and the clarification of the circumstances of their disappearance. The Act defines a missing person as a person who went missing in certain specific contexts but irrespective of the date of the disappearance. Thus, for the purpose of the Act, missing persons are persons who went missing in the context of “the conflict which took place in the Northern or Eastern Provinces or its aftermath, or if the person is a member of the armed forces or police who is identified as “missing in action” as well as persons who went missing “in the context of political unrest or civil disturbances.” In addition, the Office’s mandate also covers enforced disappearances as defined in the International Convention on Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances.
Expressing his views regarding the issue, State Minister for Defense RuwanWijewardhana says "investigation of missing persons is not an easy task. Some case may take only a few weeks but others may take months or even years. It is hard to give a definite time or answers for this matter but I can assure you that it shall be published soon." These investigations towards disappearances was among the key promises of the Yahapalana government during the election. The Office of Missing Persons (OMP), which was established in 2016 to probe into these disappearances has also come under heavy criticism at present.
Expressing his views on the matter well known civil society activist Brito Fernando said "It seems that some of the issues that we had been raising for so long have started to be implemented by the government. But we must understand the pressure that has been brought upon the government by racists in the South when moving in this direction. However, if the government makes its stance clear about the Office of the Missing Persons, then many troubles could be avoided." He also said that they are hoping to discuss the matter with the Prime Minister soon to obtain a clear response and said that if the government fails to provide a satisfactory solution soon, the civil society organizations would be forced to form another movement against the government's conduct.
According to Mr. Fernando, the delay of the government's action has been caused by the actions of certain factions in the government itself. "At the moment what remains is only the Presidential attestation for the mechanism. But he has failed to execute it so far. We need the new constitutional reforms to mitigate these deadlocks. Recently the President has stated that he would give priority to the constitutional reforms than the OMP. But this is a clear sign of delaying the proceedings. IF the general public loses their faith in the government, it is unlikely that they would stand together with the government in the constitutional reforms. Even the Opposition has been able to obtain undue political advantages due to the failure of the government. But we do not believe that a future Rajapaksa regime would carry on this task."
Expressing his opinion on the issue Mr. Ruki Fernando said , Several longstanding rights struggles in Sri Lanka have gained momentum in the streets of Sri Lanka last few weeks. These include struggles for right to education in context of privatization, rights of workers, right to traditional lands, livelihoods, housing and rights of families of disappeared for truth and justice. I had joined some protests and protesters seemed determined to continue their struggles, or even escalate them or resort to more drastic actions if their demands are not met. Families of disappeared who were fasting to death had temporarily halted their fast onto death , after assurances of a meeting with senior government ministers. That meeting yielded nothing according to some families and a lawyer and a priest who accompanied them. Contradicting the version of the government conveyed through TNA MP Sumanthiran, the families told me that they rejected government offers to expedite their own families cases, and insisted on answers to all families of disappeared. Ironically, the day before the meeting with families, the Cabinet approved a motion to reduce powers of the Office of the Missing Persons (OMP). Although the OMP Act was rushed through in parliament 6 months ago bypassing public consultations, the government appears to have lost interest to actually set it up now. In Kepapulavu and Puthukudiyiruppu in the Mullativu district, Tamils affected by war and displaced multiple times, have been protesting for more than 2 weeks demanding the military release their lands. A 83 year woman, disabled men and young children have been amongst the many women camping outside their own lands, which are occupied by the military for around 8 years.
Despite some symbolic solidarity actions, these struggles appear to be compartmentalized and it will be good to explore possibilities of more united forms of struggles in different parts of the country. The lack of commitment and the insensitivity of the government looms large, as frustrations and anger increases amongst disgruntled peoples. It’s time for the new government to move beyond rhetoric and respond to protesters demands constructively. And it’s time for all Sri Lankans to standby their brothers and sisters struggles.
In order to fulfil its mandate, the OMP will have to define its internal structure and processes and recruit and train specialized staff. It will also have to devise internal rules and guidelines for its day-to-day functioning and to ensure the respect of best practices in tracing investigations.12finally, the Office will have to make strategic choices including which database to use, which method to adopt for the identification of human remains and which cases to investigate in priority.
The government has claimed that it would be deploying special teams of investigators to find about the disappeared persons. But this statement has been criticized by civil society activists who have raised the question as to the practicality for deploying special investigators when there is no legal protection or authority over the subject such as an OMP.
The talk of a separate institution to investigate on disappearances was first discussed in 2015 with the fresh talks of reconciliation. Even though there was much enthusiasm in the government regarding this mechanism, over the past two years it has withered away from policy. Responding to these allegations, former OMP committee member and well known civil society activist SumikaPerera said "Still the government has failed to allocate proper funding or to offer a permanent office for this mechanism. It has become a big problem. When we were talking to people on previous occasions, they told us that they had seen the abductors and are even in possession of the vehicle registration numbers of these abductors. Many people have disappeared over the past few years both in the North and in the South. The members of these families have faced immense hardships due to the loss of their loved ones as most of them are the breadwinners of their families. The government must provide answers to these problems. It is also problematic as to whether the government has been able to keep the information about these families in a secure manner. We have recently discussed matter with Presidential Sub committees. We have to accept that the government has done something with the help of civil society organizations towards the welfare of these families. But much is still needs to be done. Recently the report for reconciliation was handed over to the government. But even that has received less media attention. Even though some members of the government have a genuine intention to look into these issues, the majority still ignores this issue. Therefore it is doubtful as to whether there is a clear agreement in the government regarding this matter. Compared to the previous government, the present administration has done some progressive work. But we must move forward from here."
Unfortunately, family members of those who have been disappeared have not been awarded any compensation. During the CHandrikaKumarathunga government, family members of disappeared JVP members were given compensation along with death certificates. When someone's name is entered into the list of deaths, he is no longer retained in the disappeared list. But in many instances, the family members of these disappeared persons have been reluctant to accept that their loved ones have perished by now. They are still living with the hope that their loved ones would return home one day. Due to the considerable time lapse, investigating these cases have also become a challenging task. The government has also been vested with the task of looking after the welfare of these family members since they do not have any other means of support. As the Human Right Council's annual session is drawing near, something must be done to prevent this issue being raised once again in these international discussion forums. SO far the Foreign Ministry has only been able to impose a temporary solution to evade any accusation during these sessions. But the need for a permanentsolution has become dire more than ever before.
AshWaru Colombo
The Office’s mandate encompasses the search for and tracing of missing persons and the clarification of the circumstances of their disappearance. The Act defines a missing person as a person who went missing in certain specific contexts but irrespective of the date of the disappearance. Thus, for the purpose of the Act, missing persons are persons who went missing in the context of “the conflict which took place in the Northern or Eastern Provinces or its aftermath, or if the person is a member of the armed forces or police who is identified as “missing in action” as well as persons who went missing “in the context of political unrest or civil disturbances.” In addition, the Office’s mandate also covers enforced disappearances as defined in the International Convention on Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances.
Expressing his views regarding the issue, State Minister for Defense RuwanWijewardhana says "investigation of missing persons is not an easy task. Some case may take only a few weeks but others may take months or even years. It is hard to give a definite time or answers for this matter but I can assure you that it shall be published soon." These investigations towards disappearances was among the key promises of the Yahapalana government during the election. The Office of Missing Persons (OMP), which was established in 2016 to probe into these disappearances has also come under heavy criticism at present.
Expressing his views on the matter well known civil society activist Brito Fernando said "It seems that some of the issues that we had been raising for so long have started to be implemented by the government. But we must understand the pressure that has been brought upon the government by racists in the South when moving in this direction. However, if the government makes its stance clear about the Office of the Missing Persons, then many troubles could be avoided." He also said that they are hoping to discuss the matter with the Prime Minister soon to obtain a clear response and said that if the government fails to provide a satisfactory solution soon, the civil society organizations would be forced to form another movement against the government's conduct.
According to Mr. Fernando, the delay of the government's action has been caused by the actions of certain factions in the government itself. "At the moment what remains is only the Presidential attestation for the mechanism. But he has failed to execute it so far. We need the new constitutional reforms to mitigate these deadlocks. Recently the President has stated that he would give priority to the constitutional reforms than the OMP. But this is a clear sign of delaying the proceedings. IF the general public loses their faith in the government, it is unlikely that they would stand together with the government in the constitutional reforms. Even the Opposition has been able to obtain undue political advantages due to the failure of the government. But we do not believe that a future Rajapaksa regime would carry on this task."
Expressing his opinion on the issue Mr. Ruki Fernando said , Several longstanding rights struggles in Sri Lanka have gained momentum in the streets of Sri Lanka last few weeks. These include struggles for right to education in context of privatization, rights of workers, right to traditional lands, livelihoods, housing and rights of families of disappeared for truth and justice. I had joined some protests and protesters seemed determined to continue their struggles, or even escalate them or resort to more drastic actions if their demands are not met. Families of disappeared who were fasting to death had temporarily halted their fast onto death , after assurances of a meeting with senior government ministers. That meeting yielded nothing according to some families and a lawyer and a priest who accompanied them. Contradicting the version of the government conveyed through TNA MP Sumanthiran, the families told me that they rejected government offers to expedite their own families cases, and insisted on answers to all families of disappeared. Ironically, the day before the meeting with families, the Cabinet approved a motion to reduce powers of the Office of the Missing Persons (OMP). Although the OMP Act was rushed through in parliament 6 months ago bypassing public consultations, the government appears to have lost interest to actually set it up now. In Kepapulavu and Puthukudiyiruppu in the Mullativu district, Tamils affected by war and displaced multiple times, have been protesting for more than 2 weeks demanding the military release their lands. A 83 year woman, disabled men and young children have been amongst the many women camping outside their own lands, which are occupied by the military for around 8 years.
Despite some symbolic solidarity actions, these struggles appear to be compartmentalized and it will be good to explore possibilities of more united forms of struggles in different parts of the country. The lack of commitment and the insensitivity of the government looms large, as frustrations and anger increases amongst disgruntled peoples. It’s time for the new government to move beyond rhetoric and respond to protesters demands constructively. And it’s time for all Sri Lankans to standby their brothers and sisters struggles.
In order to fulfil its mandate, the OMP will have to define its internal structure and processes and recruit and train specialized staff. It will also have to devise internal rules and guidelines for its day-to-day functioning and to ensure the respect of best practices in tracing investigations.12finally, the Office will have to make strategic choices including which database to use, which method to adopt for the identification of human remains and which cases to investigate in priority.
The government has claimed that it would be deploying special teams of investigators to find about the disappeared persons. But this statement has been criticized by civil society activists who have raised the question as to the practicality for deploying special investigators when there is no legal protection or authority over the subject such as an OMP.
The talk of a separate institution to investigate on disappearances was first discussed in 2015 with the fresh talks of reconciliation. Even though there was much enthusiasm in the government regarding this mechanism, over the past two years it has withered away from policy. Responding to these allegations, former OMP committee member and well known civil society activist SumikaPerera said "Still the government has failed to allocate proper funding or to offer a permanent office for this mechanism. It has become a big problem. When we were talking to people on previous occasions, they told us that they had seen the abductors and are even in possession of the vehicle registration numbers of these abductors. Many people have disappeared over the past few years both in the North and in the South. The members of these families have faced immense hardships due to the loss of their loved ones as most of them are the breadwinners of their families. The government must provide answers to these problems. It is also problematic as to whether the government has been able to keep the information about these families in a secure manner. We have recently discussed matter with Presidential Sub committees. We have to accept that the government has done something with the help of civil society organizations towards the welfare of these families. But much is still needs to be done. Recently the report for reconciliation was handed over to the government. But even that has received less media attention. Even though some members of the government have a genuine intention to look into these issues, the majority still ignores this issue. Therefore it is doubtful as to whether there is a clear agreement in the government regarding this matter. Compared to the previous government, the present administration has done some progressive work. But we must move forward from here."
Unfortunately, family members of those who have been disappeared have not been awarded any compensation. During the CHandrikaKumarathunga government, family members of disappeared JVP members were given compensation along with death certificates. When someone's name is entered into the list of deaths, he is no longer retained in the disappeared list. But in many instances, the family members of these disappeared persons have been reluctant to accept that their loved ones have perished by now. They are still living with the hope that their loved ones would return home one day. Due to the considerable time lapse, investigating these cases have also become a challenging task. The government has also been vested with the task of looking after the welfare of these family members since they do not have any other means of support. As the Human Right Council's annual session is drawing near, something must be done to prevent this issue being raised once again in these international discussion forums. SO far the Foreign Ministry has only been able to impose a temporary solution to evade any accusation during these sessions. But the need for a permanentsolution has become dire more than ever before.
AshWaru Colombo
