The Cabinet of Ministers approved the resolution furnished by the Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs to appoint Iraj Chaminda Pathiraja, an officer in the Special Grade of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service to the post of Controller General of Immigration and Emigration on a permanent basis.

Approval was granted at the Cabinet Meeting held on 17-05-2021 to implement the recommendations submitted by the Presidential Commission appointed to Inquire on the Easter Sunday attacks and to propose measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents, as well as the recommendations of the then Sectoral Oversight Committee on National Security.

However, since no systematic, formal, and sustainable mechanism has yet been established to monitor the practical implementation of the said recommendations, there is currently no effective mechanism to evaluate the progress of the
implementation of the aforementioned recommendations.

Therefore, the need has been identified to establish a mechanism with a broad organized structure prioritizing public and national security, to ensure the successful implementation of the aforementioned recommendations and the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution furnished by the President, in his capacity as the Minister of Defence, to appoint a committee comprising an expert in the field of counter-terrorism and national security along with the representatives of the relevant ministries and institutes under the supervision of the Presidential Secretariat.

… successive governments sat on PCoI report handed over in Feb. 2021

His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith yesterday (21) alleged that those who were in power from 2019 to September 2024 sabotaged investigations into the Easter Sunday carnage (2019).

Addressing the Seventh Year Commemoration of the Easter Sunday suicide attacks, at St. Anthony’s Church Kochchikade, Colombo, the Archbishop of Colombo said that unlike the present leaders of the country, almost all the power holders, since the 2019 April attacks, including former Presidents, Heads of the Police and the AG’s department officials, instead of sincerely finding out as to who and what was behind the horrific crime, tried their best to confuse the public, muddle up the investigations and appointing all kinds of committees, with highly suspect investigators, in order to come out with conclusions crafted by them, and tried to sabotage the truth from emerging.

In spite of the change of government, in September 2024, certain officials of the “deep state” were seeking to obstruct the smooth flow of ongoing investigations.

Regardless of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCOI) giving clear directives to the Attorney General and to that department to take clear legal and disciplinary actions against some of the political figures, officials of the security establishment and organisations for criminal neglect of duty, very little has so far been done on this matter by them.

The PCoI handed over its report to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in February 2021.

The Catholic leader emphasised the need to investigate possible links between the Easter Sunday massacre and attacks, targeting the Muslim community, on the night of 5th May and, once again, on 11th, 12th and 13th May, starting from the Nattandiya-Madampe area, through Kotaramulla to Minuwangoda. The Cardinal said: “This may have a link to the main attacks on 21st April 2019. One must also verify as to whether anyone in the security establishment prevented those responsible from controlling these attacks as and when they began.”