LLRC lessons

THE Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) has completed its mandate, but the question is if it has done enough.

In a damning commentary of what is happening in the country, the LLRC says political interference in the law enforcement agencies has overridden the rights of ordinary citizens and provided patronage to those who have violated the law.

The report says that among the issues that emerged during the commission’s deliberations were the failure on the part of the law enforcement officers to investigate offences and bring offenders to book, where the offences are committed by persons with political connections and that in the north, despite the end of the conflict, significant issues of law and order remained.

A number of politicians “operate on the fringe of the law,” it said, and added that due to their interaction with criminal elements in society, they subvert the course of justice with undue influence exerted on the Police, resulting in the politicisation of the Police.

They have also called on the Government to remove armed forces from civilian activities, but Chief Government Whip Nimal Siripala De Silva stated in Parliament that this would be done with “due consideration” and in no way guaranteed that the recommendations would be implemented in full.

Moreover, there have been reservations expressed by a variety of stakeholders including human rights organisations and the opposition parties, particularly the Tamil National Alliance. Even though the Government would be tempted to dismiss these criticisms, it must remain conscious of the fact that these are relevant grievances that must be brought into a large discussion forum. Leaving them to languish in the shadows is leaving room for the reconciliation process to be incomplete.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch said the report had cleared the military of key charges and insisted on accountability. Renewing calls for an independent probe on the last stages of the war, HRW’s Asia Director Brad Adams said: “Governments and UN bodies have held back for the past 18 months to allow the Sri Lankan commission to make progress on accountability.”

“The commission’s failure to provide a roadmap for investigating and prosecuting wartime perpetrators shows the dire need for an independent, international commission,” he said in a statement.

Amnesty International, meanwhile, said the commission acknowledged problems in Sri Lanka but ignored “serious evidence of war crimes, crimes against humanity and other violations of the laws of war”.

“There is a clear sign of the bias we had feared and already detected in the LLRC’s composition and conduct,” said the London-based group’s Asia-Pacific Director Sam Zarifi. “It does, however, offer some interesting recommendations about how to improve the overall human rights situation in Sri Lanka that the Government needs to take seriously.”

Meanwhile, the UNP too has called on the Government to implement its recommendations through discussions with other political parties. It too has suggested that a secondary stage needs to be established where issues overlooked or inadequately addressed by the report are taken into account.

The issue of accountability has not been adequately addressed in the LLRC report, according to the TNA, but several others hailed the report as promoting good governance as it has called for the reestablishment of the Police and Public Service Commissions, while belatedly requesting that the term ‘race’ be removed from legal documents.

It is now up to the Government and other stakeholders to take the best out of the report, implement it and embark on a constructive reconciliation process, where greater respect for human rights and democracy reigns.