President Mahinda Rajapaksa will make a special address to Parliament after he personally tables the findings of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission this month. The address will set out the steps the government would take on the recommendations of the LLRC’s final report. He will also focus on concerns expressed by the international community over alleged violations of human rights and international law.
Two matters connected to this address, government sources said yesterday, were yet to be finalised.
One is whether the fuller report of the LLRC should be tabled. Current thinking centres on only the observations and recommendations to be tabled first. With this in view, Sinhala and English translations are now being made. The other is the date on which the address will be delivered. It would be before the current budget sessions of the Parliament end on December 21, these sources said.
Rajapaksa’s address, the sources added, would deal comprehensively with the recommendations of the LLRC and how his government would initiate action. Some of the testimony where the Commission says “there is prima facie evidence,” is to be handed over to the Criminal Investigations Department for further probe. Those recommendations that require other governmental action would be pursued, he is to assure.
As earlier reported, though the Commission has held that the Channel 4 video titled ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ was “fabricated,” it has noted that there are discrepancies both ‘scientifically and technically.’ Hence, it has said that some aspects of the video footage require further investigation.