Forced disappearances: Action in line with OMP Bill: PM

Government will take action against any individual, whether they be military or civil, only if the Office of Missing Persons (OMP) acknowledges them as forced disappearances, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament yesterday.

Mr. Wickremesinghe specified that investigations would be carried out on forced disappearances that had taken place during the last stages of war when a suspect surrendered either to the police or the security forces."Action would be in accordance with the Office of Missing Persons Bill," he said.

He made this remark in response to a query made by a TNA MP on the subject during the Prime Minister’s question time in the House last afternoon.

The Prime Minister said the gazette containing the amendments to the Office of Missing Persons Bill will be presented to the House soon. (Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana)