Global Tamil Forum on LLRC

Global Tamil Forum

உலகத் தமிழர் பேரவை            

24 December 2011

Global Tamil Forum (GTF) welcomes the long delayed publication of the ‘Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission’ (LLRC) report. Its findings only serve to emphasise the importance of establishing an international, independent accountability mechanism to investigate whether Government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) breached any international law, committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in the last months of the war.

Whilst the LLRC has received extensive criticism, it must be stated that some of its judgments and recommendations deserve acknowledgement. In particular, GTF welcomes the statement from the Commission “that the root cause of the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka lies in the failure of successive Governments to address the genuine grievances of the Tamil people.” However, the LLRC’s conclusions on the prosecution of the conflict contradict many of the findings of the United Nations Panel of Experts (PoE) report on Sri Lanka.

Rights Groups say LLRC report falls short

Amnesty International (AI) has said “The report’s major shortcoming is in addressing alleged violations of the laws of war, where the LLRC appears to have taken the government's responses uncritically. The LLRC admits what the Government of Sri Lanka has assiduously denied – that civilians, including those in hospitals, suffered directly as a result of LTTE and government shelling, but the LLRC's blanket rejection of government targeting of civilians and its deliberate downplaying of the numbers of civilians caught in the final phase of the conflict is not warranted by the evidence, including that presented to the LLRC”. Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said “The commission’s failure to provide a road map for investigating and prosecuting wartime perpetrators shows the dire need for an independent, international commission.”         Read more...