NCPA Deputy Director sacked for undermining Lanka

A senior National Child Protection Authority ( NCPA) official has been removed on a d i re c t ive of Pre s i d e n t Maithriapala Sirisena over allegations that the officer provided an affidavit to a foreign court with an adverse report about protection of children in Sri Lanka.

NCPA Deputy Chairman Sajeeva Samaranayake had allegedly submitted a sworn affidavit to an Australian Court stating that Sri Lanka was an unsafe environment for children and that the justice system as a whole did not respond effectively to cases of child abuse.

Acting on a complaint, President Sirisena has also ordered an investigation on how and why the affidavit was issued, whether such actions had been done before and whether NCPA officials had received any ‘benefits’ from non- governmental organizations (NGOs) for engaging in such activities.

Mr. Samaranayake had submitted the affidavit, dated April 7, 2017 in Colombo, regarding a case being heard at a family court in Melbourne. In the affidavit, among other things, he had noted that there were shortcomings in delivering effective protective services for children and their caregivers in Sri Lanka.

A primary reason is that the justice sector has a traditional mindset and orientation while there was also a refusal to accept full responsibility for the needs of children and women, he has said.

The NCPA is the premier state agency tasked with preventing child abuse and advising the Government on the protection of child rights.

The NCPA has also taken steps to interdict its Attorney Preethika Sakalasooriya who had certified the sworn affidavit. An internal inquiry is pending.

Meanwhile, files containing data relating to complaints lodged with the NCPA in 2016 have also gone missing. This has resulted in a situation where the Authority is struggling to provide relief to victims of abuse in these cases, sources said.