New OMP Bill coming soon- Paikiasothy

‘Proposed Counter Terrorism Law worse than PTA, changes sought’ 

by Shamindra Ferdinando-March 7, 2017, 10:47 pm 

Top member of Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms (CTFRM) Dr Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu has said that a new Office of the Missing Persons (OMP) Bill will be presented to Parliament soon.

The revelation was made in live TV I ‘Face the Nation’ debate on post-war reconciliation efforts against the backdrop of the on-going 34th Geneva sessions. In response to a query, the founder Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) said that the civil society had been told of the government decision to bring in new Bill to replace the one passed in August last year.

The panel included Dr Saravanamuttu and executive director of the National Peace Council Dr Jehan Perera, who accompanied the government delegation to the Geneva session.

Dr Saravanamuttu faulted the government for having presented the OMP Bill in Parliament several weeks before the 11 member CTFRM had finalised its report. The CTFRM presented its findings to former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga in early January this year. Alleging that the government had been in an inordinate hurry to ensure the passage of the OMP Bill ahead of 2016 September sessions in Geneva, the activist pointed out the inordinate delay in launching the project.

Dr Saravanamuttu functioned as the Secretary to the CTFRM headed by Manouri Muttetuwegama. According to him, the new Bill would take into consideration amendments proposed after the chaotic passage of the original Bill.

The OMP Bill is meant to set up a permanent office to locate missing persons. The CPA chief reiterated that the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government shouldn’t have presented the original Bill in August last year.

Commenting on the CTFRM proposal to abolish the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), Dr  Saravanamuttu said that the proposed new Counter Terrorism Law was even worse than the PTA. He claimed that the draft had been sent back to make necessary amendments and was expected back soon.

Dr Saravanamuttu urged the government leaders to speak with one voice on the contentious issue of accountability. Responding to a statement made by a panelist, he stressed that foreign participation in accountability process had been agreed on in Geneva in Oct 2015. The CTFRM recommendations, handed over in January this year, included participation of foreign judges, he said.