First public sitting of lessons learnt commission
The Commission on Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation
will hold its first public sitting on Wednesday 11th August 2010 at
9.30am at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute for International Relations
and Strategic Studies.
Six Public Sittings will be held in Colombo while two
Sittings will be held in Vavuniya this month.
The Commission, appointed by President Mahinda
Rajapaksa under Section 2 of the Commission of Inquiry Act, functions
independently in keeping with the wide mandate issued to it.
The eight-member Commission has already met several
times to discuss modalities of work and it was decided to hold sittings
in the affected areas in the North and East to enable the public to have
easy access to the Commission and enhance awareness of its work.
The Commission, on 23 July, met District Secretaries
of the North and East, in Colombo and discussed on modalities and
institutional matters to set the stage for public hearings in the North
and East.
Immediately after the proclamation to appoint the
Commission was gazetted, the Cabinet of Ministers granted a sum of Rs10
million to enable the Commission to start operations without delay. The
General Treasury, based on the expenditure estimates provided by the
Commission Secretariat, will allocate additional funds when required.
The appointment of the Commission stems from the
President's overriding interest in the need for restorative justice by
the Sri Lankan people. Its findings will seek to take the Sri Lankan
nation towards the common goals of a multi-ethnic polity, in a spirit of
cooperation, partnership and friendship, learning the lessons from
recent history to ensure that there will be no recurrence of such tragic
conflict in the future.
The Commission will inquire and report on the
following matters;
1. The facts and circumstances which led to the
failure of the cease-fire agreement operationalized on 21st February,
2002 and the sequence of events that followed thereafter up to the 19th
of May, 2009.
2. Whether any person, group or institution directly
or indirectly bear responsibility in this regard;
3. The lessons we would learn from those events and
their attendant concerns, in order to ensure that there will be no
recurrence;
4. The methodology whereby restitution to any person
affected by those events or their dependents or their heirs, can be
affected;
5. The institutional, administrative and legislative
measures which need to be taken in order to prevent any recurrence of
such concerns in the future, and to promote further national unity and
reconciliation among all communities, and to make any such other
recommendations with reference to any of the matters that have been
inquired into under the terms of this Warrant.
Public sittings to hear representations on the above
matters will continue in Colombo on the following dates and times;
12th August at 9.30 am and 11.30 am; 13th August at
9.30 am and 11.30 am;17th August at 9.30 am, 11.30 am and 2pm; 18th
August at 2pm and 3pm; 23rd August at 9.30 am and 11.30 am; 25th August
at 2pm and 3.30pm.
The Commission will also hold public sittings in
Vavuniya on 14th - 15th August.
The public is advised to arrive early as seating is
limited and will be on a first come first served basis.
The Commission has requested citizens to provide
assistance and information to achieve the goals of the Commission.
Members of the public who wish to make submissions
before the Commission should contact it on telephone No. 0112673408 or
write to the Commission at the following address to obtain a date and
time.
The Commission on Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation
No 24, Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute for International
Relations and Strategic Studies
24, Horton Place
Colombo 7 | 
