Saturday, 22 February 2014 09:29
-
- {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
President Mahinda Rajapaksa has extended the functioning time of the special Presidential Commission appointed to investigate thousands of people who disappeared during the last 19 years of the war by six month.s Now the Commission has to prove it is worthy of the trust placed in it by desperate and grieving relatives.
Even as the appointment of the Commission was made ahead of the much-anticipated visit of UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay, it was clear these investigations were going to be challenging, to say the least. Even though the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) recommended that thousands of disappearances should be investigated, it took the Government as many as four years to get the ball rolling.
Another reason investigations could get tricky is the strong allegations of involvement by the armed forces, an entity that has been accorded almost hallowed status by both the Government and the public – an image so strong that even the recent shootings in Weliweriya could only dent rather than obliterate this shiny surface.
Even the much-respected LLRC recommendations, which called for independent investigations into Army involvement in abductions and disappearances, were diluted by the Action Plan, which gave them a slack deadline of five years to be completed. When justice delayed is justice denied, it is obvious that the Commission is only the first step in a long process of legal wrangles that may push towards closure for thousands of relatives. The new Commission must guard against such delays whenever possible and insist on independent investigations with transparent and due process, rather than leaving loopholes where strongly Government-backed entities can investigate themselves. Doing so in a credible and timely manner will undoubtedly be the biggest challenge for the Commission.
The full measure of the Presidential decree can only be evaluated once the commission’s report is released and its implementation mechanism revealed. This commission should not run into the same criticism as the LLRC, namely that its implementation is far too time-consuming.
One must also keep in mind that Presidential Commissions are often lacking in transparency, with reports being handed over without being released for public scrutiny. Moreover, the timeframe for the investigations, how charges are framed and whether cases will be filed and fast-tracked through Sri Lanka’s mired legal system is yet to be seen.
It is also questionable whether the country’s beleaguered legal system is capable of handling cases of such complexity. For example, witness protection programs are virtually non-existent in Sri Lanka. This is especially essential given the sensitive nature of the investigations and the fact that it could implicate very powerful people, who could in turn intimidate or threaten witnesses or otherwise sabotage the investigative and trial process. Without such safeguards in place, it is unlikely that the legal process will be considered fair and competent.
The road to justice and reconciliation is long and in this instance, there are some hefty mountains to climb. Despite these loopholes, as much as 16,000 cases of missing have been handed over to the Commission by loved ones desperate for closure. Giving truthful accounts of their fate is essential to bring healing to thousands of families and foster real reconciliation in Sri Lanka. The responsibility could not be greater.
