Sri Lanka's Reconciliation Commission records evidence from people in the North

Sri Lanka's Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) today recorded evidence from the conflict-affected Tamil people in the North at the hearing held in Vavuniya.

The Commission set up by the President Mahinda Rajapaksa to look into the last seven years of the decades-long war, heard testimonies from six people who came forward to speak at the hearing about their ordeals.
The witnesses complained to the LLRC on the disappearances of their loved ones. They told the Commission how their sons and husbands disappeared, sometimes allegedly taken by the Army or abducted by a white van.

Some complained of courts discriminating against the Tamils and that they lack basic resources to rebuild their lives. The witnesses also alleged that the government is resettling Sinhalese in previously Tamil dominated areas.

The LLRC assured the witnesses to pass their grievances to the relevant authorities.

The Commission is appointed to probe the events in the period between 21st February 2002 to 19th May 2009 and report on the lessons to be learnt from those events and whether any person, group, or institution directly or indirectly bears responsibility for those events.

Human rights groups and the Western governments have accused both the government and the terrorist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam of committing war crimes during the last phase of the protracted war.

A recent report submitted to the United States Congress by the Department of State raised concerns on the independence and impartiality of the members of the LLRC and suggested an independent inquiry on the alleged war crimes.

However, a Tamil leader who testified at the hearing yesterday praised Sri Lanka's military for their humanitarian work and rescuing nearly 300,000 Tamils from the LTTE grip.

V. Anandasangaree, the leader of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) suggested the removal of the Army from the former conflicted-ridden areas and establishment of a civil administration in those areas to achieve true reconciliation.

Anandasangaree also said the former LTTE combatants being detained by the government are not criminals as a majority of them were recruited forcibly by the LTTE and suggested a mechanism to assess case by case how they were recruited and take appropriate measures to integrate them into civilian life.

The Commission will hold hearings tomorrow also in Vavuniya. They are to hear from the IDPs in the welfare camps and rehabilitation centers.