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OMP Act Amendment passed unanimously in Parliament
View(s):Two years on the OMP remains the Office of Missing Members
A fresh amendment was passed unanimously in Parliament this week to remove clauses that enable the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) to enter into agreements with foreign entities, 10 months after Parliament passed the OMP Act.
Opening the debate on the amendment, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe noted that, with the implementation of this office, he wanted ‘closure’ of trauma presently experienced islandwide, by thousands of relatives of missing persons.
He said at least 5,000 complaints were lodged to previous Commissions, of security personnel missing in the three decades of conflict, in addition to some 20,000 civilian complaints of missing.
The Premier reiterated that this mechanism is purely focused on tracking missing persons, and would determine the fate of those who went missing. “This office is not vested with powers to take criminal actions or prosecute forces for war crimes, as some claimed. It would be purely a legal process.”
Moving the amendment in the House, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) MP Bimal Ratnayake said this process should be an internal mechanism, alleging some Non-Govt Organisations are trying to internalise it for their own survival.
With no particular concerns raised over the amendment from the Opposition, the members questioned as to why the Act, which took almost a year to be brought to Parliament and nearly another year to pass an amendment, is still not being implemented.
Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan noted there is a public outcry in the Northern and Eastern parts of the country, from relatives of missing persons to find the whereabouts of their loved ones. “According to past Commissions that sat to hear the complaints, it documented over 20,000 persons missing including some 5,000 security personnel. These all should be investigated. ”
“Despite the pressure exerted by the Opposition, at the top of the political leadership in the country, since the adoption of the UN resolution in 2015, which the Govt co-sponsored, we are disappointed to note there is no implementation as of now,” pointed out MP Sampanthan.
“There has been an inordinate delay regarding this grave and serious issue, despite the fact it had a very traumatic impact on lives of tens of thousands of people in the North and East, whose next-of-kin went missing,” he said.
While urging the Govt to act quickly in the implementation process, the Opposition Leader requested setting up regional offices in the North and East, in addition to the main office in Colombo, for the convenience of those relatives of missing persons who are still searching for their loved ones, with immense difficulties.
The date of the operation of the Law and the institution under which this Law comes under for operation, has not been determined in terms of Section 1.1 of the Law. With the recommendation of the Constitutional Council (CC), the President is yet to appoint seven members to the permanent office. Under the Law, the officials are vested with powers to search and find the whereabouts of missing persons, by forming tracing units to track those believed to be in detention or, in secret camps, as some relatives of missing persons claimed.
In addition to reparation and psycho-social support, the Law also enables the office to enhance the socio-economic conditions of families traumatised over the years. Countering the claim, the Joint Opposition (JO) claimed that national security would be threatened and war heroes would be prosecuted under this Law. The JO leader argued that the purpose of this Law is only to trace and find out the fate of the missing persons.
Questioning the objective of setting up the OMP, JO MP Namal Rajapaksa asked if there is no adequate powers vested in it as the Prime Minister confirmed, then what is the need to form such an institution.
“The office has been given powers to search in detention camps and prisons for missing persons, which the police does not have. But Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said there would be no criminal prosecutions or convictions. Then what is the point of having such an organisation” MP Rajapaksa asked.
Hinting there could be an indirect motive behind bringing this organisation into place now, he argued that the investigations into missing persons would have been carried out through the Paranagama Commission appointed by the previous regime, which lapsed after its mandate expired.
Countering MP Namal Rajapaksa’s remarks, Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara urged him to read the Act carefully before interpreting it. He said this Law will enable to put a full stop for the ongoing trauma of thousands of Sri Lankan lives across the island. “Though this Law does not have powers to carry out criminal prosecutions, a certificate issued by this office would be considered as an official acknowledgement from the Govt regarding the state of the missing persons.”
“Warrants also can be obtained from the magistrate to look for those persons in any premises and conduct a search. There can be exhumation of suspected grave sites where missing persons are believed to be buried. The Law has sufficient teeth to put the process into motion.”
Once the process materialises, the OMP office will search for missing persons with the maximum capacity at its disposal and, if possible, reunite them with their families, if they are alive. Otherwise, the office would issue a “Certificate of Absence”, which can be used for various procedures including relief, rehabilitation and other entitled benefits.