DailyMirror
More than 5,500 cases are pending before the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission (SLHRC) in Colombo and regional offices islandwide due to the non-appointment of the Commissioners since April 2009.
Human Rights Commission Secretary Chandra Ellawala told the Daily Mirror yesterday that they had received nearly 7500 complaints from January 2010.
The Daily Mirror learns after a period of 14 months not a single commissioner was appointed. The Commissioners should be appointed by the Constitutional Council with the approval of the President.
The four Commissioners who completed their terms of office were Justice D. Jayawickrema, Mr.Mahanama Thilakaratne, Mrs.Nalini Abeywardane and Mr.M.T.M.Bafiq.
Ms. Chandra Ellawala also said they were currently doing only the preliminary investigations on complaints received by them.
“We can’t make any recommendations without the Commissioners. We are not empowered to issue recommendations,” she added.
Ms. Ellawala also pointed out that the Colombo Head Office has completed inquiries into only 893 cases and the regional offices have completed nearly 100 cases.
Meanwhile, the office of the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission is also vacant. Former Supreme Court Judge S. Ananda Coomaraswamy retired from his office in December 2009.