Wed, Apr 10, 2013, 08:31 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Apr 10, Colombo: Sri Lanka's Marxist party Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) says it does not believe that the current government would genuinely address the issues of disappeared persons. JVP Propaganda Secretary and parliamentarian Vijitha Herath said that disappearances and killings take place when the jungle law replaces the law of the land.
He called on the government to establish a special court to probe the findings of the Matale mass grave, adding that the JVP would assist such a mechanism.
"We have already started to gather information of the comrades who went missing during the period and we are ready to give the information to a proper probe and the government must set up a special court," he said.
According to Herath, the government does not seem to have the need to address the issue of disappeared persons, especially the findings from the Matale mass grave.
"The government, it seems, wants to cover it. Even in the case of the Matale mass grave, the government first wanted to cover the issue by making various statements about the skeletal remains that were found. However, since the officials involved in the exhumation and the fact that it was uncovered in the Matale Hospital prevented the government from trying to cover it up," he noted.
Herath also said, "We don't believe that the government will address the issue. We must build a broad public opinion covering all issues faced by the government including human rights and we will intervene in building the opinion. Only bringing a massive pressure upon the government can force them to address the issue."
As for bringing justice to the fallen comrades, the JVP Propaganda Secretary observed, "We cannot give back life to the dead. But we must keep in mind that they sacrificed their lives to establish a good society. They intervened and gave their maximum to bring justice to the country. The best form of justice for the fallen comrades is to ensure the establishment of a fair and just society that they sacrificed their lives for."