Reports of 2 commissions to parliament

The government is preparing to submit the reports of two commissions to parliament which were appointed in 2006 and 2013 to probe 16 murder incidents and the missing persons during war.

The Commission appointed in 2006 was named as Udalagama Commission while the 2013 Commission was named as Maxwell Paranagama Commission.

Although the Udalagama Commission report has been handed over to then President Mahinda Rajapaksa, it has not been published so far.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Maxwell Paranagama Commission said that an appointment has been sought to hand over the report to the president.

16 murder incidents were probed under the first Presidential Commission chaired by retired Supreme Court Judge Nissanka Udalagama.

The murder of former Foreign Affairs Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, the assassination of 17 relief workers in Muttur, the murder of TNA former MP Joseph Pararajasingham, the assassination of 68 civilians at Kebitigollewa and the assassination of 98 security personnel at Digampatana were probed by this commission.

However, the then government was accused of not granting funds for the commissions to function and not giving sufficient assurance for the safety of witnesses of the cases.

Later several Human Rights groups sought permission to intervene in the cases but they withdrew themselves later.

The Centre for Policy Alternative is one such organization.

The Maxwell Paranagama Commission of 2013 was tasked to probe whether international human rights were violated during the last phase of the final war.

The report of this commission is currently ready to be handed over to the president.