Indian activist appointed as fourth foreign advisor to disappearances commission

Wednesday, 13 August 2014 00:03 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Indian Human Rights Activist Avdhash Kaushal has accepted an appointment by the Sri Lankan Government to advise the Presidential Commission on Missing Persons, The Hindu newspaper reported yesterday. Kaushal of the Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK), a Dehradun-based NGO has been tapped to join an eminent panel led by Sir Desmond De Silva QC and including Sir Geofferey Nice and Dr. David Crane. Confirming that he received a call from President Rajapaksa’s office in this connection, the report quoted Kaushal as saying: “The President himself spoke to me, inviting me to be on this panel. I asked for the terms and I was too happy to be part of it.” President Rajapaksa, according to him, visited the organisation in Dehradun on his invitation. “Over 20 Sri Lankans pursued a course in human rights offered by us,” The Hindu report quoted Kaushal as saying. In July, President Mahinda Rajapaksa expanded the mandate of the Commission — originally set up to look into complaints of enforced disappearances — directing it to probe the roles of Sri Lankan Army and the rebel Tigers during the civil war. The President later decided he would expand the panel to include experts from other countries, possibly including Japan and India. The Hindu reported that the inclusion of an Indian activist was possibly based on a private interaction and did not reflect the Indian Government’s position, according to sources in the Indian High Commission in Colombo. “We have nothing to do with this,” a senior official remarked.

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