(): Sri Lanka has taken the first step to set up the much-delayed Truth Commission, a major demand for reconciliation post-2009 with the end to the armed conflict with the LTTE in the north and east of the island nation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued the gazette for the Bill that will eventually lead to the establishment of ‘The Commission for Truth Unity and Reconciliation in Sri Lanka.’
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had run a military campaign for a separate Tamil homeland in the northern and eastern provinces of the island nation for nearly 30 years before its collapse in 2009 after the Sri Lankan Army killed its supreme leader V Prabhakaran.
“The Commission shall investigate inquire, and make recommendations in respect of complaints or allegations or reports relating to damage or harm caused to persons or property, loss of life or alleged violation of human rights anywhere in Sri Lanka, which were caused in the course of, or reasonably connected to or consequent to the conflict which took place in the northern and eastern provinces during the period 1983 to 2009, or its aftermath,” the notification issued on Monday said.
Among the main objectives, the Commission is expected to provide people with a platform and opportunity for truth-telling and recommending ways and means of effective remedies for the aggrieved.
