sri lanka's commissions of inquiry - Law & Society Trust

Later that day, attacks of three villages by government soldiers left at
least sixty seven Tamil civilians dead, and another fifty six missing
and presumed dead. In addition to the killings, women were raped,
civilians were beaten and property was destroyed. Seventeen youth
were taken to the crater left by the landmine explosion and reportedly
shot and burned in the crater. 25
Six days after the incident, a Commission of Inquiry was appointed to
inquire into the two incidents.
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS:
The Commission’s findings in the Kokkadicholai incident were
published in an interim report and a final report. According to the
final report, the interim report addressed paragraphs (a), (b) and
(d) of the mandate – namely whether the two incidents were linked
and whether government forces were responsible. The final report
dealt with paragraphs (c), (e) and (f) of the warrant – prosecution,
compensation and prevention respectively. 26 Most of the seven-page
report and many of the schedules and annexures are devoted to the
issue of compensation.
A criticism of the Commission has been that “the terms of reference
limited the scope of the inquiry, and the commissioners failed to use
the full extent of their powers, thus failing to obtain all the information
necessary to the inquiry.” 27
25.
For a report of the incident, see “The Kokkadichcholai Massacre and After,” in University
Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna), The Debasement of Law and of Humanity and the
Drift Towards Total War, 28 August 1991. http://www.uthr.org/Reports/Report8/chapter3.
htm
26.
Kokkadicholai Report, p. 1
27.
Nissan, Elizabeth, “Impunity”, Sri Lanka State of Human Rights 1994, (Law & Society
Trust, 1995), p.106 at 113.
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