Sri Lanka’s Disappeared

by Indika Sri Aravinda, The Sunday Leader, Colombo, January 15, 2012

•   Mohan Peiris says will testify over reports he received
•   Police to begin probe on hundreds of missing persons

Mohan Peiris

The police have begun investigations into hundreds of people reported missing over the past several months.  In the last 40 days alone eleven persons have been abducted in white vans.  They have disappeared with no clue except for Amal Rodrigo, Coordinating Secretary for Mervyn Silva who was returned after being abducted.

Out of the ten who were ‘whitevanned’ in the last one and a half months include two JVP rebel activists abducted in Jaffna,  Lalith Kumar Weeraraj and Kugan Murugasan, who remain missing.

Former Attorney General (AG) Mohan Peiris told The Sunday Leader that IGP N. K. Illangakoon had issued instructions to police regional heads around the country on Thursday.

Convenor of ‘We are Sri Lankans’ Udul Premaratne told The Sunday Leader that some 500 people have been reported missing in the North and East alone over the past few years.

Of those missing are 110 persons from Trincomalee, 100 from Mannar, 140 from Vavuniya and several others from Jaffna and parts of Killinochchi and Batticaloa.
Among those abducted are State employees, fishermen and university students, Udul Premaratne added.

Meanwhile former MP Mano Ganeshan said that between 2005 – 2009 there were around 550 persons reported missing in Colombo and its immediate suburbs.
He said the whereabouts of these people are still not known and blamed the government for the alleged abductions.

Mohan Peiris meanwhile said that he has already informed the relevant officials on the information he had received about the whereabouts of missing journalist Pradeep Eknaligoda.

Peiris, who is now a Presidential Advisor, said that he had received information from another source that Eknaligoda was overseas and so he asked the relevant officials to investigate the claims.

Peiris said he had received the information when he was still the Attorney General and it was now up to the relevant officials to investigate the claims.
Last year Peiris had also told the UN Human Rights Council that Eknaligoda was overseas and this created a stir with human rights groups asking him to clarify his statement.

He also said that if summons is issued on him to give evidence in court regarding his statement on Eknaligoda then he will do so.

The Appeal Court had ruled last week that Pieris could be called in as a witness to inquire into the disappearance of Eknaligoda.

Sandya Eknaligoda, the wife of Prageeth had requested courts to order the police to produce the missing journalist in courts.