The three members of the fact-finding committee appointed by President Maithriapala Sirisena to investigate the lapses which paved the way for the Easter Sunday carnage, told the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) probing the attacks, that intelligence information had not been properly disseminated and recommended that the State Intelligence Service be made an independent body through an Act of Parliament.
Tuesday’s PSC committee comprised Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, M.A. Sumanthiran, Dr. Jayampathy Wickramarathne, Chairman Ananda Kumarasiri and Ministers Rauff Hakeem and Ravi Karunanayake.
Committee Chairman Supreme Court Judge Justice Vijith Malalgoda said there was a clear lapse on the part of the people who were responsible and they have recommended that all intelligence services should be revamped to prevent the recurrence of similar terrorist attacks.
Justice Malalgoda said, “At present there is no legal framework governing intelligence services in the country. Therefore, we have recommended the setting up of a legal framework to incorporate all matters such as intelligence gathering and dissemination. Had these arrangements been complied with, these lapses would not have taken place.”
Members of the Presidential Committee, Supreme Court Judge Justice Vijith Malalgoda, former Inspector General of Police N.K. Illangakoon and former Secretary to the Ministry of Law and Order Padmasiri Jayamanne appeared before the PSC together. Illangakoon and Jayamanne testified before the PSC on two previous occasions.
Justice Malalgoda said, “There were certain observations regarding the conduct of certain Police officers but we have not given any specific recommendation or observation about any particular individual. However, we have made observations that the activities of these officers has to be investigated. We included it in the very first letter we sent to the President around April 30. When we were appointed to this fact-finding Committee on April 22, the knowledge we had with regard to this incident was similar to any other citizen in this country.
Former IGP Illangakoon said the intelligence information had been received on April 20 about a possible terrorist attack on April 21. Therefore, the intelligence authorities should have acted accordingly.
“At present there is no proper mechanism to coordinate the activities of the intelligence agencies. We are not against having several agencies to deal with intelligence, but the nature of those intelligence agencies should match the needs of the country. We proposed that the premier intelligence agency should be converted into a body operating under some legal provisions,” he said.
MP Sumanthiran: It was in public realm and media reports that those recommendations are being implemented. Why could it not be revealed to this committee?
Justice Malalgoda: We observed some lapses in the evidence given to us by certain officials and authorities. There were some recommendations because we conducted our inquiry within two days of the explosion. The information obtained from some people who appeared before the Commission which could have been used in investigations. It seems some recommendations have been implemented.
Sumanthiran asked Justice Malalgoda whether the Presidential Committee was appointed under the provisions of any written law.
He replied that they did not reject the call to set up the Committee as they thought that it is a national issue. “Therefore, we started deliberations on April 22 and we started to get evidence from witnesses on April 25.”
Minister Hakeem: When it came to issues pertaining to dereliction of duties found by your Committee, we would have been better off if we are given that report so that we can compare them with ours. But, unfortunately you are not in a position to do so. Can we at least have the list of names of witnesses?
Malalgoda: We met several high ranking officers, experts, Ministers and various people. We recorded evidence from nearly 60 people. We do not have a list now but it is included in the report. We destroyed all the documents after compiling the report.
MP Dr. Wickremaratne: Have you observed any lapses of authorities?
Justice Malalgoda: We cannot recall each and everyone. But we noticed there were some glaring lapses such as the intelligence report warning of the attack on the Kochchikade church had been sent to the Foreshore Police Station only after the attack. In the case of the Katana Police station, the warning had been received on April 13 but the OIC had pasted the message on his book only on April 20. It is obvious that there had been no proper coordination of intelligence reports. We have made recommendations regarding this. We have also made recommendations on regulating explosives after studying the evidence on the use of explosives by the Easter Sunday attackers. We recommended that the State Intelligence Service be made an independent body through a Parliament Act.
Justice Malalgoda told the PSC that the first intelligence report had been received around April 5 but there had been no proper coordination. When it comes to national security there should be one specific body above others. There are operatives belonging to several intelligence bodies in a single Police station and that should be changed. “We observed that some officers have submitted false records. For example, the warning had been received by Katana Police station. According to their books 21 policemen had been detailed at the site but we found it was false and entered only after the attacks took place,” he said.