Presidential Commission on Disappeared to commence sittings on the 18th

 Tuesday, 07 January 2014 

The Presidential Commission on Disappearances is to commence sittings with the inaugural sitting to be held in Mullaitivu and Killinochchi from the 18th till the 20th of this month.

The Commission had received 11,500 complaints on disappearances, of which 7,500 are from the Northern and Eastern Provinces.
The Commission was set up ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo due to pressure from the international community to probe the disappearances during the war and the government is trying to commence sittings of the Commission ahead of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions in March.

A spokesman for the commission has been quoted in the media as saying it would work closely with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) during the process of investigations and will launch its website and reference numbers, and letters of acknowledgement will be issued to those who had lodged complaints.