-By Legal Correspondent
(Lanka-e-News -08.March.2025, 11.00 PM) In a recent head-to-head discussion, President Ranil Wickremesinghe attempted to downplay the legal significance of the Batalanda Presidential Commission Report, claiming that because it was not tabled in Parliament, it holds no legal weight. However, this assertion is not only misleading but also a calculated attempt to divert attention from the gravity of the report’s findings.
The Batalanda Commission, appointed by President Chandrika Kumaratunga in 1997 under the powers vested in a Presidential Commission, investigated allegations of human rights abuses, including torture and extrajudicial killings, in the infamous Batalanda torture chambers during the late 1980s. The commission’s report, released in 2000, made serious recommendations, including the need for parliamentary debate on its findings and the establishment of a code of conduct for MPs—which could lead to impeachment proceedings for those implicated.
Ranil Wickremesinghe’s involvement was significant enough that he was summoned before the commission and had legal representation—raising an obvious question: if the report had no legal standing, why was he required to appear? His argument that "it wasn’t tabled in Parliament, therefore it has no legal power" is an absurd deflection. A presidential commission operates under the legal authority of the President, with powers akin to a judicial inquiry. Its findings and recommendations are meant to guide further legal and parliamentary action, regardless of whether they are formally debated in the legislature.
Ranil’s comments echo the kind of legal gymnastics once perfected by J.R. Jayewardene, under whose presidency laws were bent and manipulated for political survival. But legal principles exist not to be rewritten at convenience but to be upheld in the pursuit of justice. If the Batalanda report carried no weight, why has there been a persistent call by human rights activists to revisit its findings, and why is there ongoing demand to revoke Ranil Wickremesinghe’s civil rights based on its recommendations?
Ranil, often perceived as a third-class advocate with no real legal career, may wish to dismiss the commission’s findings as inconsequential. But his deflections do not erase the report, nor the dark history it exposes. The real question remains: why hasn’t there been a proper legal and political reckoning for what happened in Batalanda?
You can read Batalanda Presidential Commission Report in following link
https://itjpsl.com/assets/Batalanda-Commission-Report-EN-copy-copy.pdf
-By Legal Correspondent
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by (2025-03-08 18:24:32)
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