Sri Lanka’s Lesson Learnt and Reconciliation Commission begins sitting

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 August 2010, 15:16 GMT]
The Lesson Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), consisting of eight members, chaired by the former Attorney General C. R. de Silva, commenced its sittings Wednesday morning at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute in Colombo 7, according to Commission’s Secretary S. M. Samarakoon. Bernard Goonatillake, former head of Sri Lanka's Peace Secretariat that was operational during the period of the conflict,is scheduled to give evidence on the opening day. Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa is to give evidence before the Commission 17 August. The Commission is to meet from August 11 till the 25th. Sessions on August 14th and 15th are to be held in Vavuniyaa.

Other members of commission are President's Counsel Dr. Amrith Rohan Perera, Prof. Mohamed Thahir, Professor Karunaratne Hangawatte of the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV), Attorneys-at-Law Mohamed Jiffry, Chandirapal Chanmugam, H.M.G. Siripala Palihakkara, Mrs. Manohari Ramanathan and Maxwell Parakrama Paranagama.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in May 2010 appointed the Commission to report on the lessons to be learnt from the events in the period from 21st February 2002 to 19th May 2009.

Messrs: S.L. Gunasekara, V. Anandasangaree, President of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), Godfrey Goonatillake, Hiranthi Wijemanne, Mangala Samaraweera, parliamentarians of the United National Party (UNP), Nihal Rodrigo, Austin Fernando, former Defence Secretary in the then UNP government, Rajan Asirvatham, Rajiva Wijesinghe, Manel Abesekara, Jayantha Dhanabala and Asoka Gunasekara are among several top government officials, former diplomats, academics, and intellectuals listed to give evidence before LLRC.