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

separate cover the list of names of individuals in respect of
whom there is credible material before this Commission. 68
It further states:
In view of the serious nature of the acts revealed by the evidence
available to date, Your Commissioners recommend that the
investigations by the IGP should be under the supervision of
the Attorney General and be referred to the Attorney General
for the determination of the appropriate legal proceedings that
should ensure. 69
Despite this recommendation for supervision by the Attorney General,
the Commission found problematic patterns of (non)investigations that
implicated both the police and the Attorney General’s Department.
The Distortion of the Investigations to conceal more than to
reveal, and mechanically labelling as ‘subversive act’ without
investigation, were some of the practices of avoidance used in
the rare instances where the authorities could not refrain from
semblance of an investigation. 70
The Commission cites the case of prominent journalist, Richard
de Soyza, as highlighting the ways in which investigations were
undermined and distorted.
The case of Richard de Soyza
R, a Journalist, filed reports critical of the government's record on
human rights to I.P.S., an international news agency. In February
‘90 R's abduction from his home by an armed gang who came in
vehicles in the night was reported both to the local police and the
69.
Final Report, Southern Commission, p. 29.
70.
Final Report, Southern Commission, p. 53
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