A/HRC/4/41 page 81 390. In a response dated 11 August 2006, the Government of Sri Lanka stated: “With regard to the representations made on the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, it should be noted that this is an independent body. The Government can only transmit to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka any representations forwarded, with the request for appropriate action.” Request for a visit 391. Following a decision of the Working Group, a request for a visit to take place in early 2007 was sent to the Government of Sri Lanka on 16 October 2006. In a reply dated 24 October 2006, the Government stated that it would not be possible to schedule a visit for the Working Group during the requested period owing to the planned visits of other special procedure mandate holders, but that the interest of the Working Group would be noted and given due consideration. Summary of the situation prior to the period under review 392. The cases reported to the Working Group are alleged to have occurred in the context of two major conflicts in Sri Lanka: the confrontation between Tamil militants and government forces in the north and north-east of the country and that between the People’s Liberation Front (JVP) and government forces in the south. Between 1987 and 1990, the disappearances occurred mainly in the southern and central provinces and coincided with extreme violence on the part of both security forces and the JVP. The cases reported to have occurred since 11 June 1990, the date of the resumption of hostilities with the LTTE, have been confined primarily to the eastern and north-eastern provinces of the country. 393. The Working Group has undertaken three field missions to Sri Lanka, in 1991 (see E/CN.4/1992/18/Add.1), 1992 (see E/CN.4/1993/25/Add.1) and 1999 (see E/CN.4/2000/64/Add.1). The central recommendation to the Government was the establishment of an independent body with the task of investigating all cases of disappearance that had occurred since 1995 and to accelerate its efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice. The Working Group also recommended the setting up of a central register of detainees as provided for in article 10, paragraph 3, of the Declaration. It stated that all families of disappeared persons should receive the same amount of compensation and that the procedure for issuing death certificates in cases of disappearances should be applied in an equitable and non-discriminatory manner. The Working Group further noted that the Prevention of Terrorism Act and the Emergency Regulations had not been abolished or harmonized with internationally accepted standards of human rights, and recommended that the prohibition of enforced disappearance be included as a fundamental right in the Constitution of Sri Lanka. Total cases transmitted, clarified and outstanding 394. In the past and during the year under review, the Working Group has transmitted 12,319 cases to the Government; of those, 40 cases have been clarified on the basis of information provided by the source, 6,530 cases have been clarified on the basis of information provided by the Government and 5,749 cases remain outstanding.

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