LLRC to hear UN Panel of Experts

Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) appointed by the President, Mahinda Rajapaksa to probe the events during the war will hear the Panel of Experts appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General, the Commission said in a statement yesterday.

Issuing a statement in response to the media inquiries on the UN’s announcement that the Panel may visit Sri Lanka, the LLRC said that the Commission will hear the Panel’s representations on the basis of the Commission’s Warrant and the usual procedures followed for such hearings although the decision to allow the Panel to visit lies with the government.

“Any decision to facilitate the UN SG’s Panel to visit Sri Lanka lies entirely with the Government of Sri Lanka. If a decision is made to permit such a visit the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) will hear such representations on the basis of its Warrant and the usual procedures followed for such hearings,” the LLRC said.

The spokesman for the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last week said the Panel of Experts appointed by the UN Chief to probe Sri Lanka’s accountability issues plans to visit the island and meet with Sri Lanka’s Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission.

The Sri Lankan government vehemently opposed the appointment of the three-member UN Panel, led by former Attorney General of Indonesia Marzuki Darusman, saying that it is unnecessary and unwarranted as the government has already set in motion its own mechanism to probe the events took place during a seven-year period prior to the conclusion of the war.

The government earlier said the panel members, who started their work on the issues on 16 September, will not be allowed to enter the country for any investigations.

Sri Lanka’s National Freedom Front (NFF) Leader and Housing, Construction and Engineering Services Minister Wimal Weerawansa in July launched a fast unto death campaign outside the UN office in Colombo opposing the appointment of the Panel.