Colombo (AsiaNews) - The Sri Lankan government has approved a draft bill that permits the registration of missing persons during three decades of civil war. Since 1994 there were over 65 thousand complaints, but none has been accepted because there was no specific office to deal with them. In late May, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka presented the new Office for Missing Persons (OMP) responsible for detecting traces of the victims of the conflict and ensuring justice.
For almost thirty years, the island was the scene of a bloody civil war between the Tamil Tiger rebels (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, LTTE) and government forces. According to official figures, the conflict has caused about 100 thousand victims, including at least 70 thousand in the final stages (2006-2009).
The bill was passed on 7 June. So far, the families of the disappeared had to sign a death certificate. So the relatives were never able to access the goods, property or bank accounts of missing persons, it is impossible to present concrete evidence of their actual death.
Most of the missing, ethnic Tamils, died during army raids or the violence of rebel guerrillas, or were seized and never returned. It is almost impossible to officially identify the few remains found in mass graves.
Now with the new proposal, which could be turned into law in a few months, the survivors will be able to obtain the "Certificate of absence" of disappeared relatives. Furthermore, thanks to the Office for Missing Persons, they will be abe to obtain compensation and trigger legal action against those responsible for enforced disappearances.
Colombo government admits 65 thousand "disappeared" in the Civil War
The authorities have approved a draft bill that records the disappeared. Family members will be issued a "certificate of absence". So they can access the properties of the missing relative. Until now they had to sign a death certificate, but the recognition of the remains is often impossible.
