The recent letter received from Mr. Philip Alston, the UN Special Rapporteur on Extra- judicial, Summary and Arbitrary Executions, that followed an interview to the media by Retired General Sarath Fonseka, has been referred by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to the Committee appointed to study and report of the US Department of State Report on incidents during the recent conflict in Sri Lanka.

The Committee has been asked for advice on the cause of action to be taken on the issues referred to in Philip Alston’s letter.

The President has also extended by four months the period given to the Committee to study and report on the US State Department Report. The original warrant issued on November 04, 2009, ended on December 31, 2009. The extension was given following a request by the Committee of difficulties in completing the study in the given time.

The members of the Committee are: Mr. D. S. Wijesinghe PC (Chairman), Mr. Nihal Jayamanne PC, Mr. C. R. de Silva PC and former Attorney General, Mrs. Mano Ramanathan, formerly Senior Legal Draftsman, and Mrs. Jezima Ismail, leading educationist, former Vice Chancellor of the Eastern University and Principal of Muslim Ladies’ College.