Presidential Commission slams IIGEP

COLOMBO: The Presidential Commission of Inquiry investigating serious violations of Human Rights yesterday slammed the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) for making public statements criticising it without consulting the commission.

Commission Chairman Justice Nissanka Udalagama, in a strongly worded letter to Justice P.N Bhawati has pointed out that procedures laid down in the Presidential Invitation to the IIGEP have not been followed.

The letter said: "In order to refresh your memory we wish to draw your attention to Clause 11 of the Presidential Invitation issued to
IIGEP. According to the said Clause before a public statement is issued prior written notification of a minimum (not maximum) of two weeks must be given to the Chairman of the Commission of Inquiry and the Attorney General."

Justice Udalagama also reiterated his view that the IIGEP has maintained an "adversarial" attitude to the COI and that it was regrettable that a body that was created to ostensibly help Sri Lanka deal with the cases under review had this stand.

The letter also criticises the IIGEP members for not attending a sufficient number of the inquiry sessions to form an opinion on how the matters were proceeding. The letter says: It is unfortunate that out of 39 formal investigation sessions up to September 05, that just one IIGEP Member has been present at 13 sessions which is a 33 percent presence.

On an average only two Assistants have been present at each of the 39 sessions. This means that 8 of the 11 IIGEP members have no authentic information (from their respective Assistants who have not attended any sessions) to enable them to carry out their task of observing the work of the COI.