Nesiah resigns...

Dr. Devanesan Nesiah said he had officially tendered his resignation from the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into Alleged Serious Violations of Human Rights with effect from midnight yesterday without waiting for what he termed was an “overdue reply” from the President’s office.

The Chairman of the Commission Justice Nissanka Udalagama confirmed that Dr. Nesiah had stepped down and said that he would be missed in the ongoing Commission hearings. Nesiah states that the immediate cause for his resignation is a result of a letter from the Presidential Secretariat dated 7 June 2008 which states that there is a loss of "great trust and confidence" in his "prudence, ability and fidelity" once reposed in him by the President.

Nesiah states with criticism that “It is especially regrettable that in your letter follows a concerted media campaign against me spearheaded by the Counsel for the Army and the STF and by a section of the state owned media network.”

Speaking to media Dr. Nesiah said that he met with four of the CoI members yesterday and informed them of his decision. “They wanted me to remain and offered the possibility of taking up the Potuvil case in the future to keep myself occupied but I remain firm on my stance,” he added.

Witness protection and gaining access to witnesses who had gone overseas were stated as the major difficulties faced by the Commission which Nesiah felt slowed its progress. “The scope of witness protection the Commission has been able to extend to witnesses resident within Sri Lanka is very limited in respect of both degree and duration,” Nesiah says in his letter.

Dr. Nesiah further says the suspension of video conferencing to await the Witness Protection Act withdrew prospects of the investigations. “In my view, some of the provisions in the draft legislation may deter severely critically important witnesses from testifying,” he states in his letter adding that “In consequence the Commission may not be in a position to arrive at a robust conclusion in any of the sixteen cases assigned.”

“We will miss him at the commission hearings,” the Commission Chairman Justice Nissanka Udalagama said adding that the CoI will meet as usual this Thursday to inquire into the Trinco and ACF cases. Meanwhile he added that the CoI hopes to end the investigations into the two cases by July before resuming the Potuvil case.