Missing Persons Commission rejects death toll in UN panel report
Chairman of the Presidential Commission on Missing
Persons Maxwell Paranagama has rejected the death toll during the final
phase of the conflict cited in the United Nations panel report. The 2011
report of the Panel of Experts appointed by the UN Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon claimed, during the final phase of the conflict with the LTTE
over 40,000 persons were killed.
Speaking to Indian media, Retired High Court judge
Paranagama said while investigations of the Presidential Commission
could not come to any precise figure of deaths, it was "certainly not
40,000" as stated in the UN report. He added even the panel report was
not definitive, saying it stated 40,000 may have been killed during the
last phase of the conflict.
Meanwhile, the Presidential Commission on Missing
Persons has completed its second interim report on deliberations carried
out in the North and East of the country. Furthermore, a joint letter
has been submitted to President Maithripala Sirisena calling for the
second interim report of the Presidential Commission to be tabled at the
United Nations Human Rights Council session.
Courtesy: Department of Government Information |