Grand commission on truth and reconciliation

November 20, 2013 If LLRC had a broader mandate, it would have silenced critics of the war victory then

It is indeed a remarkable feat that the Ra a!aksa administration was able to hold C"#$% 2013 des!ite mountin& criticism from across the world' (he success of holdin& C"#$% 2013 was owin& to di!lomacy by )orei&n %inister *rof' $'L' *eiris' Canada and India had different attitudes as decisions to not attend C"#$% had been made under domestic com!ulsions' (he !ro+ se!aratist lobbies in these countries are hy!eractive and there is a massive !ro!a&anda effort to tarnish the ima&e of ,ri Lanka' "i&h Commissioner in London Chris Nonis had a very &ood interview with CNN and was able to !rovide a balanced and di!lomatic res!onse to !robin& -uestions from the anchor' Rebuildin& the battered ima&e of ,ri Lanka would be a mammoth task and re-uires a holistic a!!roach to !ublic di!lomacy' ,ri Lanka needs !eo!le of the calibre of Chris Nonis' .ven the /ritish *rime %inister was under !ressure from media and other (amil dias!ora lobby but had to defy the !ressure as /ritain0s !resence is !aramount, otherwise the value of s!rit of Commonwealth would have been vitiated' If Norway was a Commonwealth country it too would have abstained from attendin&' It is also a trium!h for Ra a!aksa administration when ,outh 1frican *resident 2acob 3uma attended' In ,outh 1frica, where there is a si4eable (amil !o!ulation, !eo!le have a different attitude towards ,ri Lanka, hence the messa&e by /isho! 5esmond (utu ur&in& the ,outh 1frican $overnment to boycott C"#$% did not have the desired effect' Ideolo&ically (amils of ,outh 1frica are akin to Indian (amils of ,ri

Lanka0s Central *rovince' 1s far as *resident Ra a!aksa was concerned, he should be ha!!y that C"#$% went well des!ite the o!!osition it had to confront' *resident was even able to celebrate the 67th birthday of *rince Charles at his official residence' *rof' $'L' *eiris may now be a contender for the !ost of *rime %inister thou&h %* ,a ith *remadasa had called for his resi&nation over his failure to !ersuade the Indian *rime %inister to be !resent at C"#$%' Commission on (ruth and Reconciliation Recent local !ress re!orts indicated that there is an effort by the $overnment to a!!oint a Commission on (ruth and Reconciliation alon& the lines of the ,outh 1frican model' 8hat the $overnment should have done was to have a!!ointed a commission with a broader mandate alon& the lines of the ,outh 1frican (RC soon after the war victory was achieved' In fact the need for a truth and reconciliation commission is to address the !sycholo&ical im!act of the conflict which dra&&ed on for three decades' (he entire nation lived in utter fear and be&an to sus!ect each other in !ublic !laces' (he sound of an air!lane and a helico!ter drove the northern (amils into under&round bunkers' 9uestionin& looks were cast on sus!icious lookin& individuals and different locations inside buses and trains lookin& for any unattended ob ects or !arcels' *arents had a chillin& time waitin& for children returnin& home from schools' (here is a si4eable number of youth of the Northern and .astern *rovinces who had been brainwashed to see the ma ority ,inhalese community as a demonic !eo!le by the L((.' (hat was the recruitment cam!ai&n launched by the L((.' If the LLRC had a broader mandate, it would have healed the wounds of the in ured' It would have &ranted amnesty for the !rota&onists of the war' (he whole world would have &lorified ,ri Lanka then and some of the criticism levelled at ,ri Lanka now would not have surfaced had we &iven a broader mandate to the LLRC' LLRC mandate (he mandate of the LLRC was :to in-uire and re!ort on the followin& matters that may have taken !lace durin& the !eriod between 21 )ebruary 2002 and 1; %ay 200;, namely<

=1> (he facts and circumstances which led to the failure of the Ceasefire 1&reement o!erationalised on 21 )ebruary 2002 and the se-uence of events that followed thereafter u! to 1; %ay 200;? =2> 8hether any !erson, &rou! or institution directly or indirectly bears res!onsibility in this re&ard? =3> (he lessons we would learn from those events and their attendant concern, in order to ensure that there will be no recurrence? =@> (he methodolo&y whereby restitution to any !erson affected by those events or their de!endants or their heirs, can be affected? =7> (he institutional administrative and le&islative measured which need to be taken in order or !revent any recurrence of such concerns in the future, and to !romote further national unity and the reconciliation amon& all communities, and to make any such other recommendations with reference to any of the matters that have been in-uired into under the terms of the 8arrant'A (RC mandate "owever, the ,outh 1frican (RC had a different mandate where it says that the :ob ectives of the Commission was to !romote national unity and reconciliation in a s!irit of understandin& which transcends the conflicts and divisions of the !ast by =a> .stablishin& as com!lete a !icture as !ossible of the causes, nature and eBtent of the &ross violations of human ri&hts which were committed durin& the !eriod from 1 %arch 1;60 to the cut+off date, includin& the antecedents, circumstances, factors and conteBt of such violations, as well as the !ers!ectives of the victims and the motives and !ers!ectives of the !ersons res!onsible for the commission of the violations, by conductin& investi&ations and holdin& hearin&s? =b> )acilitatin& the &rantin& of amnesty to !ersons who make full disclosure of all the relevant facts relatin& to acts associated with a !olitical ob ective and com!ly with the re-uirements of this 1ct? =c> .stablishin& and makin& known the fate or

whereabouts of victims and by restorin& the human and civil di&nity of such victims by &rantin& them an o!!ortunity to relate their own accounts of the violations of which they are the victims, and by recommendin& re!aration measures in res!ect of them'A ,outh 1frican eB!erience (he ori&ins of re!ression in ,outh 1frica a&ainst the blacks continued for four centuries and it included serious human ri&hts violations such as mass killin&s, dis!ossession, enslavement, ethnic cleansin& and many other crimes of horrendous !ro!ortions' 1ll human ri&hts violations a&ainst the blacks came under ,tate s!onsorshi! and knowled&e of the white &overnments of the day in ,outh 1frica' (he contribution of whites in ,outh 1frica cannot be underestimated thou&h they were a minority' (he whites had contributed immensely to the economic success and they had the most lucrative farms' (hey also controlled &old, diamond mines and other mineral resources' (he whites wielded considerable economic !ower' In order to !rotect these economic assets, the whites had to be armed all times and had $overnment !rotection and also retained !rivate security !ersonnel' In some cases !rivate mercenaries have been em!loyed by minin& com!anies to !rotect the assets owned by whites' (he whites also came under horrendous acts of violence at the hands of black militants' It was a brutal war similar to how we saw the L((. resortin& to acts of !ure barbarism' %ost successful (RC (he (ruth and Reconciliation Commission =(RC> was created throu&h an 1ct of *arliament in 1;;7 by the ,outh 1frican $overnment in an effort to brin& about ustice and reconciliation' %ost of the !ublic hearin&s were done in Ca!e (own' (he Commission was led by imminent !ersonalities such as /isho! 5esmond (utu and other intellectuals' (he (RC had been &iven a mandate to look into =1> human ri&hts violations =2> re!aration and rehabilitation of victims and restorin& their di&nity =3> and (RC had a s!ecial mandate to consider amnesty a!!lications from individuals includin& members of the armed forces, vi&ilantes, !aramilitary militia and members of the military win& of the 1NC led by Nelson %andela' (he ,outh 1frican (RC is considered to be the most successful (RC as similar eBercises in other countries did not !roduce as im!ressive an outcome as the (RC of ,outh 1frica' 1mnesty (he LRRC did not have the mandate to &rant amnesty and this was the bi&&est mistake ever committed in the run+u! to the war victory' .ven late Lalith

1thulathmudali enacted amnesty laws to &rand !ardon to members of security forces durin& the !eriod 1;C7 to 1;C; where there were two internal wars' (he ,outh 1frican (RC !layed an im!ortant role in &rantin& amnesty to defence force !ersonnel and militants of the 1NC' (he armed stru&&le between whites and blacks was so bitter that crisis had even eBtended to nei&hbourin& countries where black militants were o!eratin& and &ettin& lo&istical su!!ort' (here have been cross border raids by the ,outh 1frican 5efence )orce =,15)> dee! into 1n&ola, %o4ambi-ue and other countries surroundin& ,outh 1frica' (he crisis became so bitter that there has been an unofficial mandate to en&a&e in eBtra udicial eBecutions and to li-uidate terrorist sus!ects and ,15) even had official sanction for that' (here has been a !lethora of cases involvin& deaths under !olice and military custody' %edia !ersonnel and institutions too came under terror' It was -uite remarkable that transitional ustice went really well in ,outh 1frica' (he ,outh 1frican eB!erience is an ideal case study in transitional ustice' New &rand commission (ime is therefore still ri!e in ,ri Lanka to !rovide a s!ace for a new &rand commission with an ob ective of buryin& ethnic differences and brin&in& about national unity once and for all' *erha!s it would be !ossible to look into a new constitution &uaranteein& the ri&hts of minorities throu&h a subcommittee within the new mandate' (he commission could even articulate a home &rown solution to the crisis' (he &rand commission must have the re-uired mandate to look into all as!ects of the conflict and must !rovide an ob ective view of the crisis' (he most im!ortant amon& all is to &rant amnesty to all stakeholders of the conflict includin& L((. and armed forces of ,ri Lanka' =(his writer is a freelance ournalist and a !olitical lobbyin& and !ublic affairs consultant' "e is also a member of the 1merican 1ssociation of *olitical Consultants'>