Commissioners appointed for the Office of Reparations

Following the passage of the Office for Reparations Act No. 34 of 2018 on 09th October 2018, the Constitutional Council have appointed commissioners for a three-year period, the Secretariat for Coordinating Reconciliation Mechanisms (SCRM) said in a statement today.  
Accordingly, the following members have been appointed.

1- Ms. Dhara Wijethilake – Chairperson
2- Mr. A. A. Fathihu – Member
3- Col. (Rtd.) W.W  Rathnapriya Bandu  – Member
4- Dr. J. M Swaminathan – Member
5- Ms. Sumithra Sellathamby– Member

The Commissioners were selected in an open and competitive process conducted by the Constitutional Council (CC) of Sri Lanka and were nominated by them to the President for appointment.

An allocation of LKR 700 million was made for the establishment and staffing of the Office for reparations through Sri Lanka’s National Budget for 2019. 

The Office for Reparations is an independent authority tasked with formulating, designing and implementing reparations policies aiming to redress victims who suffered violations in the course of past conflicts in Sri Lanka. The Office for Reparations can provide individual or collective reparations and make recommendations to the Cabinet of Ministers.