UN Resident Coordinator of Sri Lanka Hanaa Singer welcomed the decision of the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) to publish a list of complaints and information regarding missing and disappeared persons received by the OMP.
Singer tweeted, "Families grieving for their loved ones for too long deserve answers. The UN welcomes the publication by the @ompsrilanka of the list of complaints of the #missing and #disappeared. It is a key step towards a comprehensive list and providing answers to families."
The list will be made available at the OMP Head Office in Colombo and its Regional Offices in Batticaloa, Jaffna, Mannar and Matara, the OMP said.
The Sunday Times published the following details inter alia.
The details included in the List were obtained from i) complaints received directly by the OMP; ii) complaints obtained by the former Ministry of National Integration and Reconciliation from District Secretariats and forwarded to the OMP; and iii) lists of Missing in Action personnel provided by the armed forces at the request of the OMP.
The List released contains information provided by persons regarding missing and disappeared persons residing in all districts, apart from Batticaloa which has the largest numbers of complaints and will be released soon.
It also contains the following information i) a reference number assigned by the OMP; ii) the name of the missing or disappeared person in English and in Sinhala or Tamil; iii) the date that the person went missing or were disappeared; and iv) the district in which the missing or disappeared person last resided.
The Sunday Times introduced the OMP as follows:
Persons who went missing or were disappeared in connection with the conflict, political unrest or civil disturbances or as an enforced disappearance; and personnel of the armed forces or police who have been identified as missing in action fall within the OMP’s mandate, as per section 27 of the Office on Missing Persons (Establishment, Administration and Discharge of Functions) Act, No. 14 of 2016 (the Act). The OMP’s primary mandate to search for and clarify the fate and whereabouts of missing or disappeared persons is not limited to a specific period, community or region.
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