Justice Minister Harsha Nanayakkara says investigations will be reopened into more than 10,000 complaints of disappearances reported in the North and South before the year 2000.
He said new mechanisms would be introduced for the Office on Missing Persons and the Office for Reparations. Cabinet approval has been obtained to begin these investigations, with an estimated allocation of Rs. 375 million.
Speaking at an event organized by the Office on Missing Persons to mark the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances at Temple Trees today (29), the minister stressed that enforced disappearances are crimes and that truth, justice, and reparations will be central to government policy under the NPP-led administration.
Nanayakkara added that a Truth and Reconciliation Commission will be established, a new legal framework to ensure impartial justice will be introduced, and a comprehensive system of reparations will be implemented to support families of the disappeared. (NewsWire)
