A/HRC/22/38 found tortured and killed. 22 The Government reports that these cases are under investigation. 30. In its report, the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission recommended that a full investigation be launched and, where necessary, prosecutions be brought for cases of alleged disappearances of those who had surrendered to and/or been arrested by the security forces around the time of the end of the armed conflict (para. 9.23). In its national plan of action, the Government instructs the Ministry of Defence to complete an unspecified ongoing disciplinary process, and the Ministry of Justice and the Attorney General’s Department to take follow-up action to prosecute, where relevant. These provisions fall short of an independent and impartial investigation, given that the Ministry of Defence is made responsible for investigating the armed forces. C. Detention policies 31. The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission recommended that law enforcement agencies strictly adhere to existing legal provisions with regard to powers of arrest and detention. It also called for all places of detention to be formally designated and adequately publicized, stressing the importance for detainees’ access to next of kin (paras. 9.53-55 and 9.67). The Government did not include these recommendations in its national plan of action. The Commission also recommended that an independent advisory committee be appointed to monitor and examine the arrest and detention of persons taken into custody pursuant to provisions of the Public Security Ordinance or the Prevention of Terrorism Act (para. 9.57). The Government assigned this recommendation to the Ministry of Public Administration and Home Affairs, although the actions to be implemented lack clarity. 32. The Commission also recommended the establishment of a centralized comprehensive database of detainees to be made available to the next of kin (para. 9.63). In its national plan of action, the Government assigned the Ministry of Defence the task of enhancing the “present database” to ensure easy access to information for next of kin. In its comments on the present report, the Government stated that a centralized, comprehensive database of detainees had been established at the Terrorist Investigation Division of the Police, and that 3,073 next of kin had made inquiries. This does not, however, address the needs of those whose family members either went missing during the last stages of the war or surrendered to the army and disappeared thereafter. Furthermore, some of those who approached the designated Government entities were reportedly unable to obtain any information owing to the uncooperative and sometimes hostile behaviour of State officials. 33. Noting that some detainees at the Boossa Detention Centre had spent long periods of detention without any charges filed against them, the Commission, in its report, reiterated its interim recommendation that “a special mechanism be created to examine such cases on a case-by-case basis and recommend a course of action in regard to disposal of each case, as appropriate” (para. 9.62). In the national plan of action, the Government called on the Attorney General’s Department to identify and establish procedures within the existing system to address this issue, and to complete decision-making regarding detainees through a dedicated unit in the Department. According to a progress (undated) report, a fourmember special committee was set up by the Department, which, in January 2011, began to study cases of LTTE suspects in detention and to expedite releases for rehabilitation or expedite investigations where adequate evidence of hard-core involvement in the LTTE 22 10 For example, on 4 January 2012, a person who had been abducted the previous day was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head.

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