Minister of Mass Media and Health Dr. Nalin de Jayatissa says that the President paid special attention to the Batalanda Commissions report at the Cabinet yesterday (10), that the cabinet discussed about it and the Cabinet came to a decision, and that the Batalanda Commission report will be presented to Parliament this week and after it is presented to Parliament, the decisions taken beyond that will be announced later.

He said this while responding to questions raised by journalists at the press conference held at the Government information Department in Polhengoda, Kirulapone this morning (11) to announce cabinet decisions. 

First, we will present this to the Parliament. Once the recommendations of the commission are presented, the relevant institutions will be informed by the Attorney General’s Department about the steps to be taken. The first thing to do is to present the report. 

Question : By presenting the Batalanda Commission report to Parliament, is it expected that its recommendations will be implemented and on what basis is this being presented to Parliament?  a journalist raised a question.

Questions – Was the Batalanda Commission report discussed at the Cabinet yesterday? There have been requests from various parties to present its recommendations to Parliament, has the government’s attention been drawn to it?

Answer : A broad discussion has started in the society regarding the Batalanda incident. In particular, the leader of the Frontline Socialist Party, Kumar Gunaratnam, and its General Secretary are holding media discussions and expressing their views. Similarly, we saw an Al Jazeera journalist questioning former President Ranil Wickremesinghe regarding the Batalanda incident. At this moment, there was a question of how this issue arose, but punishment should be given in relation to the Batalanda incident. However, this discussion is being revolved around Ranil Wickremesinghe. Sixty thousand people were killed in the South, about one hundred thousand people were killed in the North. The JVP is also accused of supporting the operation of torture chambers in the North. 

Former President Chandrika Kumaratunga avoiding the situation, stating that the commission report against Ranil was not implemented because the then government had revoked her mother’s civil rights, and  when she implement the recommendations, the society might think she did this as a political revenge. 

This is not just an issue about Ranil. The killings in the South or the North occurred because of the riots that arose because the previous governments failed to solve the most basic problems of the people. Even now, mothers in the North have been protesting for 3000 days demanding that their children to be found. Does this government have a clear plan? Reveal the facts related to all the killings. Who did these killings? How many torture chambers were operated? Who ran them? Are the governments ready to reveal?

Questions – The government should give a precise date on how long it will take to submit this commission report

He further said:

For decades in our country, there have been many incidents of deprivation of democracy and human rights violations from all parts of the country. From the south to the north. We all know about that. The people of this country want democracy. Human rights must be protected. The right of the people to live freely must be protected. We are a government that has made promises in this regard and won the trust of the people and came to power. We are taking necessary action on the relevant allegations. What has now emerged is the Batalanda Commission report, which we are paying special attention. I will announce the decisions taken from there later after presenting it to Parliament. The Batalanda Commission report will be presented to Parliament this week.

Questions – By presenting the Batalanda Commission report to Parliament, is it expected that its recommendations will be implemented? On what basis is this being presented to the Parliament?

First, we present it to Parliament. When a commission presents its recommendations, the Attorney General’s Department informs the relevant institutions about the next steps to be taken. The first thing to do is to present the report.

Question – According to the Commission Act, the President can implement the recommendations. The Criminal Investigation Department was entrusted with implementing the recommendations of the Ashraff Commission regarding the Helicopter crash. Then the President will have the ability to do so directly, right? Order the relevant institutions to implement the recommendations.

Answer – It is more stable to present the Batalanda Commission report to Parliament first. After we present it to Parliament, the President can take a decision.