Office of Missing Persons bill passed in Parliament without vote

The Office of Missing Persons (OMP) bill was passed in the Parliament with amendments a short while ago, Ada Derana reporter says.

Parliament proceedings were also suspended this morning due to a tense situation which had prevailed as a result of a protest staged by a group of Joint Opposition members wearing black headbands against the bill.

The Office on Missing Persons (Establishment, Administration and Discharge of Functions) Bill  was passed in the Parliament without a vote.

The Office on Missing Persons will make recommendations to protect the rights and interests of missing people and their relatives. It will also identify redress to which missing persons and their families are entitled and set up a database of missing people.

The government says it has received about 65,000 reports of missing persons since 1994. They largely occurred during a Marxist uprising in 1987-1989 and the last 15 years of a 26-year civil war with ethnic Tamil rebels.

Earlier, the former President alleged that the legislation is meant to be an integral part of the judicial mechanism to deal with allegations of war crimes that the Yahapalana government has undertaken to establish.  

Issuing a statement, he said that if this draft legislation becomes law, every members of parliament who votes for it will be held responsible by the people for betraying the country and the armed forces.