TNA calls for international probe

By Chamitha Kuruppu

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in a report criticising the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) calls for an international probe to ensure genuine reconciliation and to break the cycle of impunity in Sri Lanka.

The TNA said the LLRC report which stated the military had not deliberately killed civilians during the final phase of the war has failed to fulfil the expectations of the Tamil community, while also falling dramatically short of international standards.

“However, accountability remains an urgent and important need to help victim communities overcome trauma and rebuild their lives, to bring closure to our collective and personal grief, to ensure genuine reconciliation, to break the cycle of impunity in Sri Lanka, to insure against a return to violence, and to prevent historical revisionism by narrowing the range of permissible lies about the last stages of the war,” the TNA said in its 115 page report titled “Response To The Lessons Learnt And Reconciliation Commission Report”

The TNA said that unless the truth is ascertained and the issue of accountability is frankly addressed, there is no guarantee that this culture of unbridled impunity would not recur.

“The TNA therefore calls on the international community to acknowledge the consistent failure of domestic accountability mechanisms in Sri Lanka and take steps to establish an international mechanism for accountability.”

The TNA is of the view that the recommendations of the UN Secretary General’s Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka provide a useful and important starting point for further action.

“The TNA is of the strong opinion that any future accountability mechanism must be firmly rooted in the principles of truth, justice and reparations to victims. Echoing the sentiments expressed in its initial response to the LLRC report, the TNA concludes that truth is the cornerstone of justice and is the only foundation on which true reconciliation can be achieved,” it said.

In the report the TNA points out the LLRC’s key recommendations in an analytical list that they term as ‘unrelated to accountability’. The list also evaluates LLRC’s recommendations against recommendations made by past commissions of inquiry and State-appointed bodies.