Joint Opposition wants OMP Bill presented in Parliament afresh
Friday, September 2, 2016
The Joint Opposition wants the Office on Missing Persons (Establishment, Administration and Discharge of Functions) Bill presented in parliament afresh.
JO and MEP leader Dinesh Gunawardena emphasized that the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government should present the OMB Bill in accordance with accepted procedures. He was addressing the media at Dr N.M. Perera Centre yesterday morning.
Gunawardena said as the government had accepted that the Bill hadn’t been properly passed, it should be presented again. The JO leader said that the OMP couldn’t undertake inquiries until the Bill received fresh parliamentary approval.
However, authoritative sources told The Island that the Bill had now been signed into law. They ruled out the possibility of a fresh vote. The JVP has complained that its recommendation were not included and an amendment would be moved shortly to rectify the mistake. Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said that the JVP’s recommendation could be accommodated and there was no problem.
Former External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris told The Island that the JO had an opportunity to brief Speaker Karu Jayasuriya on the OMP Bill before he endorsed it. He said the JO received an assurance from Speaker Jayasuriya that he would consult legal experts in that regard. The former Law Professor said that the Bill was inconsitent with the Constitution and the Speaker had been informed of the specific issues. Prof. Peiris said that an unnecessary crisis could have been avoided if the government addressed JO’s concerns.
The OMP is one of the mechanisms expected to be established in accordance with Geneva Resolution 30/1 adopted in Oct last year.
The four mechanisms are the Commission on Truth, Justice, Reconciliation and Non-recurrence
to be evolved in consultation with the relevant authorities of South Africa, Office on Missing Persons, a Judicial Mechanism with a Special Counsel to be set up by Statute and an Office for Reparations to be set up by Statute to facilitate the implementation of recommendations relating to reparations made by the proposed Commission on Truth, Justice, Reconciliation and Non-recurrence, the Office of the Missing Persons, the LLRC and any other entity.
Attorney-at-law Suren Fernando who had been involved in the preparing the OMP Bill explained that there was no basis for concerns expressed by various parties in that regard. Addressing the media at the Foreign Ministry on Monday evening (Aug. 29), Fernando responded to various allegations in respect of crucial sections of the Bill. The attorney-at-law assured that the proposed OMP meant no harm and in fact the outcome of inquiries undertaken by the outfit could be advantageous to those under investigation for alleged disappearances. Responding to a query, Suren Fernando said that a security forces officer could write to the OMP in accordance with the Right to Information Act (RTI) to obtain information pertaining to a particular case.
However, matters communicated to the OMP in confidence by various parties in respect of a particular situation couldn’t be divulged, Fernando said, In that case the provisions of the Right to Information Act, No. of 2016, would not apply, the attorney-at-law said.
Meanwhile, Rear Admiral (retd) Sarath Weerasekera told The Island that the OMP wasn’t acceptable to the vast majority of Sri Lankans, therefore it should be rejected. The former Digamadulla UPFA MP said that the Bill/Act was surely inimical to Sri Lanka’s interest and the Joint Opposition shouldn’t accept it under any circumstances. The government should withdraw the Bill, the naval veteran said, urging the government not to undermine war winning military to appease those still promoting separatist sentiments. The OMP posed a severe threat to individual officers and men as well as those who had held command and control responsibilities during the war. The navy veteran said the government couldn’t be allowed to jeopardize national security at the behest of Western powers and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).
Former MP Weerasekera said that statements issued by the US embassy and various other organizations, including the UK headquartered Global Tamil Forum (GTF) revealed the nexus between the yahapalana government’s actions and those bent on hauling Sri Lanka before war crimes court.
The Island