Hundreds of war-affected in Sri Lanka's North testify before Reconciliation Commission

Over 500 war-affected civilians in northern Sri Lanka have attended the public sessions of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) held over the weekend in the former Tamil Tiger rebels de-facto capital of Kilinochchi.

Some of the civilians testified before the LLRC on Sunday about their harrowing ordeals and brought their present day grievances to the attention of the Commission.
The Commission officials had told the media that the people who testified had given them useful insight into the problems they faced during the three-decade long conflict.
Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa appointed the eight-member Commission in May 2010 to report on the lessons to be learnt from the events occurred during the period from 21st February 2002 to 19th May 2009.
The LLRC held public sessions on Saturday (18) and Sunday (19) in several locations in Kilinochchi. It will hold a public session in Mullaitivu on Monday (20) as well. Similar sessions will be held in Jaffna from October 9th 13th and in the Eastern Province later in the month.

Foreign media describing the public testimonies at Sunday's hearings in Pooneryn of Kilinochchi reported that civilians looking for their missing loved ones and families affected by the intense fighting during the last phase of the war between the government forces and the LTTE testified before the Commission.
According to a report by German news agency DPA, agricultural officer Nadarajaha Sundaramoorthy has told the LLRC that more than 40 to 45 pregnant mothers and babies died as they were in a queue to collect nutritional food in Putumatalam when they were hit by shells and aerial strikes. However, he has not said who was responsible for the shelling.
Some witnesses were seeking to find the whereabouts of their relatives who were LTTE combatants surrendered to the Sri Lankan security forces.
The LLRC has so far held 14 public sittings in Colombo and 6 public sittings in Vavuniya. The Commission held public sessions in Vavuniya on August 14th and 15th and also visited the welfare villages where around 25,000 displaced people are still living.
The Commission headed by former Attorney General C. R. de Silva is to report their findings to President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the end of its term in mid-November.