Sri Lanka war commission report not up to UN panel standards - Navi Pillay

he report of Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), Sri Lanka's domestic investigative body of the war, according to a UN official, is not up to the standards of the Panel of Experts appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General to probe Sri Lanka's three-decades long bloody conflict with the Tamil Tiger rebels. Delivering opening remarks at the 19th sessions of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on Friday, the High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanetham Pillay said
the LLRC report "falls short" but it makes important recommendations. "While the report falls short of the comprehensive accountability process recommended by the Secretary-General's Panel of Experts, it does make important recommendations," Pillay, welcoming the LLRC report released by the Sri Lankan government in December 2011 said. Sri Lanka has questioned the credibility of the UN Expert Panel report, which the government has dubbed as 'Darusman Report'. Sri Lankan President's special Human Rights Envoy, Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe addressing the Council on Monday pointed out that the UN report is based on closed-door hearings of unnamed witnesses who have been provided 20-year immunity whereas the LLRC report recorded on-camera testimonies of named witnesses whose accounts are substantive and verifiable. The High Commissioner encouraged the Sri Lankan government to engage with the Special Procedures and with her office on follow up to the LLRC report. "I also hope the Council will discuss these important reports," she said. The Council, with the support of several member states including the United States, is expected to bring a resolution to request the Sri Lankan government to implement the LLRC recommendations without a delay and address the accountability issues. Pointing out that Sri Lanka has taken "clear and definite" steps to implement the recommendations of the domestic process barely two months after the LLRC report was made public, the Minister has assured that the government will continue to address the recommended measures comprehensively in a "systematic and thorough" manner.