The former Sri Lankan president, Mahinda Rajapaksa condemned the Office of the Missing Persons Act, as a step to prosecute the country's armed forces, Ceylon Today reported.
In a letter to the senior Buddhist clergy, Mr Rajapaksa urged them to take action on what he described as "acts of betrayal being committed under the guise of promoting reconciliation".
Rejecting assurances given by the current government that the Act would not be enforced in a retrograde fashion, Mr Rajapaksa said, "That was an outright lie."
"If this law to give effect to the International Convention against Enforced Disappearances had been passed by Parliament, under the proviso to Article 13(6) of our Constitution, it would have applied to the past automatically."
"The enthusiasm of the yahapalana political parties – the UNP, the SLFP group in the government, the TNA and the JVP to pass laws designed to punish members of the armed forces and the political authorities that gave leadership to the war is evident."