TNA to relate ‘historical facts’ to LLRC: Report

Sri Lanka’s main Tamil political party says it intends to make a presentation to a presidential panel on the historical facts that paved the way for a decades long civil war in Sri Lanka. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said it accepts the invitation by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).

The LLRC is mandated by the president to look into “the failure” of the ceasefire signed between the government and the LTTE in 2002 and “related matters” until 19 May 2009, when the government declared its military victory over the Tamil Tigers.

R. Sambanthan, the leader of the TNA, told BBC Sandeshaya that issues that led to the war and what happened until the war ended “cannot be viewed in isolation” to the historical facts since independence.

 “When we testify, ours will be a fairly full presentation in regard to the entire history of that total period,” he said.

International and local human rights organisations have criticised the “narrow” mandate given to the commission and whether a positive outcome could be expected by such a narrow mandate.

Speaking on behalf of The Wolrd Elders group founded by Nelson Mandela, former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari also expressed concern.

“If you look at previous examples of special commissions in Sri Lanka, one has to be sceptical,” he told BBC Sandeshaya.

“Over the last 30 years the reports of other commissions similar to this have not even been made public. So this effort leaves much to be desired.”

Mr. Sambandan, who declined to comment on whether the LLRC would address alleged human rights violations during the final stage of the war, says that the party is not concerned whether the Commission’s work would conclude with any positive outcome.

“We believe that we have a duty vested upon us to put on record the position of the Tamil people and how there can be a genuine reconciliation,” he said. – (BBC)