Addressing a joint media briefing Friday following a meeting with Sri Lanka's External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris, the United States Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton said the US is very supportive of the approach taken by the Sri Lankans.
"The United States strongly supports political and ethnic reconciliation in Sri Lanka. Such commissions of inquiry have played an important role in advancing accountability and redressing wrongs in other countries emerging from periods of internal strife. Sri Lanka's commission should apply the best practices from these other commissions and should have the mandate to investigate any allegations of war crimes." Secretary Clinton said.
She said the United States expects the commission to be given a broad enough mandate with the resources necessary to be able to follow the trail of any evidence that is presented.
"We expect that the mandate will enable them to fully investigate serious allegations of violations and to make public recommendations that commission members and potential witnesses must enjoy adequate and effective protection, and the commission must be able to work with the governments so that the government will give due consideration to the recommendations," Secretary Clinton pointed out.
Addressing the reporters Minister Peiris said the country has two advantages - an honorable and enduring peace and unprecedented degree of political stability and the country has made a tremendous progress within a short time of one year.
However, he said challenges remain with regard to the resettlement of Internally Displaced People and the reactivation of country's electoral process to give a place for Tamil political leadership.
"We have been able to resettle people in their natural habitat. But we have not been content with that. It is not a question of just resettling people physically, but we want to ensure a restoration of livelihoods so that they're able to live their lives with dignity without bitterness or rancor. That's very essential," he emphasized.
Minister Peiris said there is a need for political space to be provided for the emergence of a legitimate democratic Tamil leadership, particularly at the local government level, because the LTTE had destroyed the leaders of the Tamil community just as much as they had annihilated the leaders of other communities.
The Minister called for a rich and deep relationship with the United States pointing out that there is a role American companies can play in the rebuilding process.
"We look forward to a multidimensional relationship with the United States on the lines of what is envisioned in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee report of Senator John Kerry and Senator Lugar, who have called for a broadening and a deepening of the relationship between our two counties at this time," the Minister said.
Secretary Clinton assured the Minister that the United States will continue to provide humanitarian aid to Sri Lanka while moving far beyond that to repair schools, to help with infrastructure, and to create jobs.
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