LLRC

(Ashish Kumar Sen) Sri Lanka will hold accountable every person accused of war crimes during its decades-long civil conflict, the island nation’s ambassador to the U.S. says. The Obama administration and human-rights groups have questioned Sri Lanka’s commitment to accountability after its government released a 387-page report on the conflict that does not identify any […]

(Dayan Jayatilleka)  Whatever one may think of the LLRC and NORAD reports, it is incontrovertible that two of the three major players in the last stage of the Sri Lankan conflict have undertaken and undergone a preliminary audit of sorts—the Sri Lankan state and the Norwegians– while the third (and the second in importance) has […]

 Jehan Perera – The 388-page report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission appears to be earning more bouquets than brickbats. Even one of the government’s foremost critics, the International Crisis Group, has noted its positive contribution to affirming principles of good governance and a political solution to the ethnic conflict. However, it has expressed […]

The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission report has crossed its limits, but its biggest blunder is making no mention about the Sinhalese people, alleges JHU secretary and minister Patali Champika Ranawaka.Speaking to the media in Colombo today (Dec. 27), he said the LLRC has completely forgotten the around 21,000 Sinhalese, who, according to credible evidence, […]

Whatever the wordings in the title of the Commission may be, the real motive of the government behind the appointment of it is somewhat confusing when considering its terms and the title together. Also when the UPFA government’s stand with respect to the 2002 ceasefire agreement and the terms of the commission are taken together, […]

The government has a problem acknowledging reality, but so do its critics. The war was not all good and the Rajapaksas are not all bad. That is the middle ground. With the LLRC report, the government has admitted that civilians were killed, that hospitals were shelled and that people were detained and at times disappeared. […]

[TamilNet] Questioning the need for “a seven-man presidential Commission costing millions of rupees for platitudinous recommendations that the government will ignore,” Prof. Kumar David, in an opinion column in Lakbima says, “[t]his game [LLRC] is not being played for reconciliation with the Tamils; it is being played to get the human rights and international agencies […]

The Russian Government on December 22, said that the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) will help accelerate the national reconciliation process and strengthen peace in Sri Lanka.Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich in a statement said the commission has made serious work on all aspects of the conflict that ended in […]

This is the text of an official communique released by the Ministry of External Affairs(MEA), India on December 25 th2011- In response to a question the Official Spokesperson (MEA) said:    The report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), was tabled by the Government of Sri Lanka in its Parliament on 16 December. While […]

(PTI) India today said it expected Sri Lanka to “act decisively” to achieve meaningful devolution of powers to its provinces in the backdrop of the military operation against the LTTE. In its first comments on the report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), India also asked Sri Lanka to set up an “independent […]

Global Tamil Forum (GTF) welcomes the long delayed publication of the ‘Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission’ (LLRC) report. Its findings only serve to emphasise the importance of establishing an international, independent accountability mechanism to investigate whether Government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) breached any international law, committed war crimes and crimes […]

 Jatila KarawitaTNA National List MP M.A. Sumanthiran says that the LLRC Report has ‘dramatically failed to address the accountability issues pertaining to the final phase of the North-East ethnic conflict between the government security forces and the LTTE.’ In an interview with Jatila Karawita, MP Sumanthiran, while dismissing all allegations that they were negative or […]

Tisaranee Gunasekara“… From the very beginning there was a very clear military plan and in parallel…a plan for humanitarian assistance”  Gotabhaya Rajapaksa (Testimony before the LLRC) “….the Commission is satisfied that the military strategy that was adopted…was one that was carefully conceived, in which the protection of the civilian population was given the highest priority.” (The […]

For those who are now debating the pros and cons of the LLRC Report, anything including obscenely frenzied prevarication seem to pass muster. For those who did not think that the state appointed LLRC commissioners could be quite so open about mistakes made by the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL), there is a certain level […]

The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) report that was made public last week has attracted mixed reactions, both domestically and internationally. Predictably, global human rights groups found the report wanting because not only did it not meet their expectations with regard to the investigations on allegations of violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) by […]

The EPDP Leader and the government strongman in Jaffna, Minister Douglas Devananda says that he would go to courts against the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission over allegations raised against the EPDP in the LLRC Report that it was responsible for operating illegal armed groups and abducting people. In an interview with   Ranga Jayasuriya, he […]

Raisa Wickrematunge The External Affairs Ministry has warned that legal action will be taken against any group or institution which spreads false claims regarding the report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LRRC). Deputy Minister of External Affairs, Neomal Perera said that while certain institutions had been identified as making false statements on the LLRC report, […]

The United Nations’ spokesman in a note sent out to UN-based correspondents said, “The United Nations will be studying the report closely. The Secretary-General hopes that the Government of Sri Lanka will move forward with its commitment to address accountability concerns in good faith as an essential step towards reconciliation and lasting peace in the […]

If it came to parliament more than a month after the Commission led by President’s Counsel and former Attorney General, C.R. de Silva, handed over the report to President Rajapaksa, the situation has been further confounded. More than two weeks after the report was tabled in Parliament, thus bringing it into the public domain, there […]

 Sunday Times Political Editor  Western powers murmur but Sri Lanka yet to come up with roadmap for reconciliation and good governance Positive features in LLRC report, but issue of accountability for military excesses not addressed, say international groups Sri Lanka ushers in another New Year in just six days, with some of the most difficult challenges […]

The final report published by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) of Sri Lanka established by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in May 2010 largely exonerates government forces from liability for serious international crimes perpetrated during the last stages of the civil war in 2009 and the Commission has so far failed to fully investigate neutrally […]

Minority Rights Group International (MRG) welcomes some recommendations made by the Sri Lankan government’s ‘Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission’ (LLRC), but condemns its failure to deal with the crucial issue of accountability regarding events during the latter stages of the war in 2009.  MRG welcomed the government’s decision to table the LLRC report in parliament […]

The much-awaited report of Sri Lanka’s Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, tabled in Parliament recently, has established a key fact — that there were “considerable” civilian casualties in the final stages of the military operation that ended in the total defeat of the LTTE.  This is a step forward from the Sri Lankan government’s earlier […]

NOTEBOOK OF A NOBODY/Shanie The final report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission was unexpectedly released on Friday last week, after a lot of uncertainty as to when and how it would released – whether in full, only selected parts or not at all. In the end, good sense seems to have prevailed, in striking […]

National Peace Council/ Media ReleaseThe final report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission appointed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa has drawn a mixed reaction. The 388 page report has been criticized by the main Tamil political party, the Tamil National Alliance, and by international human rights organizations.They have referred to the report as being in […]

Matthew Russell Lee UNITED NATIONS, December 23 – One week ago about Sri Lanka, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon “noted that the report of Sri Lanka’s Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) was tabled in parliament today and welcomed that it has been made public. The United Nations will be studying the report closely.”   […]

Nesan Shankar Raji- Senior leader and spokespersonThe Eelam Revolutionary Organisation (EROS) wishes to thank His Excellency President Mahinda Rajapaksa for expediting and releasing the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) report within a remarkable 18 month timeframe. EROS also wishes to congratulate the panel of distinguished experts who were party to the Lessons Learnt and […]

The British Tamils Forum has called upon the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to instigate an international diplomatic initiative to set up an International Independent investigative mechanism to probe Sri Lanka.  The BTF has stated that indications were that the Sri Lankan regime will most certainly resist such a move.  “We therefore call upon […]

 The International Crisis Group welcomes the public release of the report of Sri Lanka’s “Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission” (LLRC), presented to the Sri Lankan parliament on 16 December 2011.The report acknowledges important events and grievances that have contributed to decades of political violence and civil war in Sri Lanka and makes sensible recommendations on […]

The report of the ‘Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission’ (LLRC) was presented by the government to Parliament last Friday. The government has opened its ‘magic box’ which it claimed had answers to all the accusations that were levelled against it during the two-and-a-half year period since the end of the war. However, this has been […]