The Batalanda Commission Report has been officially handed over to the Attorney General, the President’s Office announced.
The report, which investigates alleged human rights violations during the 1988–1990 period, was tabled in Parliament on March 14 by the Leader of the House, Minister Bimal Rathnayake.
At that time, Minister Rathnayake informed Parliament that the report would be sent to the Attorney General for legal advice on possible actions to be taken. He also noted that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake would appoint a special committee to review the findings and provide recommendations.
The Batalanda Commission Report gained renewed attention after former President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s recent interview with international media outlet Al Jazeera, in which he dismissed the report’s findings as politically motivated.
Wickremesinghe stated that the commission was established to discredit him and emphasized that it only referenced his role in facilitating housing for police officers during the 1988–1990 insurgency, without implicating him in any other allegations.
The Batalanda Commission was originally appointed by President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga on 21st of September 1995, to investigate illegal detention, torture, assassinations, and disappearances said to have taken place at the Batalanda Housing Scheme during the late 1980s.
After nearly three years of investigations, the commission submitted its report in 1998, but its recommendations were never implemented.
