Colombo: Sri Lanka is currently saddled with more than 14,000 cases related to persons who went “missing” during civil conflicts in the country, including the war against the LTTE, Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said, pledging their quick resolution.
According to him, investigations into roughly 4,800 cases have been completed by the Office of Missing Persons (OMP), a unique office created to ascertain the status of all missing persons.
According to Rajapakshe, "all outstanding complaints lodged with the Office of Missing Persons are expected to be resolved by the coming year." He also stated that a comprehensive package of eight new measures is scheduled to be submitted to Parliament in order to ensure the effectiveness of the legal system. The OMP is seeking a quick resolution of cases, he told reporters.
Established in 2016, the OMP is a state agency entrusted with finding the whereabouts of all those reported missing in Sri Lanka in order to provide comfort to bereaved victims and their families. It serves as a transitional justice system to compensate the relatives of those killed in the island's civil wars.
Rajapakshe said the current caseload in the judiciary exceeds 1.1 million cases, and “concerted efforts have been undertaken in recent times to mitigate delays in case adjudication. Substantial measures have been implemented to address the backlog and streamline the judicial process, with a particular focus on the establishment and operation of conciliation boards aimed at facilitating the expeditious resolution of select cases”.