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Considering that the Report of the Working Group on Enforced
or Involuntary Disappearances, General E/CN.4/1998, of the
Economic and Social Council deals with, among other matters, the
cases of disappearances in Sri Lanka,
Considering that according to the said document, General
E/CN.4/1998, 12,208 cases of disappearances had been reported to
the Working Group since its inception,
Considering that the Working Group undertook two missions to
Sri Lanka from 7 to 18 October 1991 and 15 October 1992 and their
reports were contained in documents E/cn.4/1992/18/add.1 and
E/cn.4/1993/25/add.1,
Considering that three Commissions of Inquiry into Involuntary
Removal or Disappearance of Persons in Sri Lanka have completed
inquiries into 16,800 cases and submitted reports, and one of the
Commissions continues to inquire into further 10,135 cases,
Considering that at the time the document of General
E/CN.4/1998 was submitted, the Working Group had expressed its
wish to receive the reports of the said Commissions of Inquiry
into Involuntary Removal or Disappearance of Persons,
Considering that the findings of the said Commissions of
Inquiry into Involuntary Removal or Disappearance of Persons
clearly established that disappearances in this context had meant
an euphemism for extra-judicial killings mostly carried out by
State officers or their collaborators, that most killings were
done after arrests and kidnappings by State agents, that an
island-wide network existed to erase all records relating to
disappearances and to destroy thousands of dead bodies without a
trace, that there was existence of several mass graves, that
often prior to death persons had been detained and tortured and
that an operation of such large scale had taken place with the
knowledge and encouragement of the political leadership of the
regime in power at the time,
Considering that acts mentioned above do not constitute legal
activities and cannot be justified as legitimate activities of a
government and that naming such acts as counter-subversive
activities does not alter the illegality of such acts,
Considering that according to the said Commissions of
Inquiry into Involuntary Removal or Disappearance of Persons, a
very few of the culprits of such acts have been prosecuted and
tens of thousands of cases require further criminal
investigations if prosecution is to place any time in future,
Considering that no adequate compensations on the basis of
norms accepted by the Working Group have not been paid to the
victims,
It is recommended that,
The disappearances mentioned above be treated as a crime
against humanity and the political leaders responsible be tried
on that basis,
That Sri Lanka be requested to establish a Criminal
Investigation Authority with the mandate and resources to
investigate these disappearances and prosecute the suspects,
That the Sri Lankan government be requested to implement the
recommendations of the Commissions of Inquiry into Involuntary
Removal or Disappearancef Persons and undertake the necessary
reforms in law enforcement agencies to stop the continuous
occurrence of disappearances,
And that the compensation paid to the victims need to be
assessed in terms of the norms acceptable to the Working Group.
Posted on 2001-10-29
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