The Friday Forum urges earliest public release of LLRC Report in full

The Friday Forum is a group of concerned citizens who meet frequently to give thought as to how the processes of ensuring peace, justice and good governance, upholding of the rule of law, and acceleration of socio-economic development can best be supported.

We welcome the news that the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) has submitted its final report to President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Friday Forum supported the LLRC process fully and expressed their faith in the Commission being able to present a report of value addressing issues of terrorism, accountability, national reconciliation and peace with dignity and equality for all Sri Lankans.

The Friday Forum now wishes to urge the President to release, without delay, the report in full for public review and discussion. There have been conflicting statements from various sources in this regard and a clear statement from the Presidential Secretariat as to when the report will be released in full will be welcome.

It will be appreciated that public commissions of inquiry are appointed by the President on behalf of the people and the costs of their sittings, deliberations and submissions are met from public funds.

Their report therefore belongs to the people who must be given the earliest possible opportunity to review and engage in a discourse on it. We know of no democracy where reports of public commissions of inquiry, not involving matters of state or military security, are withheld from public discussion.

Such public discourse will no doubt help in facilitating the effective implementation of the commission’s recommendations. Over a year ago, the commission released its interim report and the President correctly appointed a Committee headed by the former Attorney General to look into implementing those interim recommendations.

Unfortunately, Friday Forum’s efforts to obtain from that committee a report on the progress it had made in implementation have not proved fruitful. We request that the President, in the same spirit that he appointed these eminent persons to the LLRC, to set up a more effective mechanism to implement the final recommendations of the LLRC.

The Friday Forum is of the view that there is no reason now to delay the release of the LLRC report in full.

Only such a step will honour the integrity of the learned Commissioners of the LLRC. It will also be in line with the commitment made by the Government, locally and internationally, that the Government appointed the LLRC to be transparent in its sincerity towards upholding human rights and values in war as in peace.

Withholding the report or any part of it from public scrutiny will seriously affect our credibility as a nation. The release must be followed up, after public discussion, with a plan to effectively implement the LLRC’s recommendations.

Yours sincerely,

Jayantha Dhanapala

On behalf of The Friday Forum, the Group of Concerned Citizens committed to accelerating equitable socio economic development, ensuring peace, harmony, good governance and addressing the national question.

Jayantha Dhanapala, Bishop Duleep de Chickera, Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne, Professor Arjuna Aluwihare, Suresh de Mel, Lanka Nesiah, Sithie Tiruchelvam, Dr. Devanesan Nesiah, Dr. Geedreck Usvatte-Aratchi, Tissa Jayatilaka, Mahen Dayananda, Dr. U. Pethiyagoda, Anne Abeysekera, Ahilan Kadirgamar, Dr. Camena Gunaratne, Dr. A. C. Visvalingam, Dr. Selvy Thiruchandran, J.C. Weliamuna, Daneshan Casie Chetty, Dhamaris Wickramasekera, Ranjit Fernando, D. Wijayanandana, Prashan De Visser and Chandra Jayaratne