PM stressed on domestic mechanism

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday told Parliament that the government would set up domestic mechanisms for truth seeking, justice and reconciliation to avoid recurrence of unpleasant incidents that marred the nation in the past.

Making a special statement on the government’s position on recent UNHRC report on Sri Lanka, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said accountability was a prerequisite for trust building among communities and restoring the rule of law. The incumbent government was accountable and responsible to the people of this country and driven by a policy of doing the best for its people. The government was dedicated to fulfilling the promises made to the international community. It was with the intention of forming a foundation for a long-lasting peace, to prevent recurrence of terrorism, to bring about the equal opportunity and justice to members of all communities, the Prime Minister said. The government had received a mandate for that purpose twice. Reconciliation was a process and would take its own course of time. Such a process should comprise mechanisms of truth seeking, justice, compensation and reparation and prevention of any recurrence of conflict. To avoid reoccurrence of the unpleasant incidences the nation had experienced the country had to address the grievances of minorities. It was necessary to evolve a political solution. President Maithripala Sirisena had, in his manifesto, promised to set up an independent, domestic and judicial mechanism to address the accountability issues. It was imperative that Sri Lanka revived the culture of accountability that had disappeared due to terrorism, the Prime Minister said. The government would set up a commission of truth seeking, justice, and reconciliation and to prevent conflict situation with the consultation of relevant authorities of South African reconciliation process. That mechanism would consist of two structures. The first would be a compassionate council made up of representatives from all religions. The government hoped to set up a secretariat with the assistance of International Committee of the Red Cross to find details of the missing persons, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said. The government was planning to set up a special judicial mechanism comprising special adjudicator to compensate the victims of the conflict. The country had previous experiences of Criminal Justice Commissions in the past. Hence it wold not be something novel. The government would make use of the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission. The Prime Minister stressed the need for amendments to the Constitution and the Penal Code to strengthen punishments against forcible abduction and hate speech. When the Prime Minister ended his speech, National Freedom Front Leader Wimal Weerawansa raising a point of order demanded that the government allocate time for a debate on the issue. Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said that there was information that the US was planning to bring about a resolution at UNHRC in Geneva favourable to Sri Lanka. The government would wait for that and would table the reports of the Udalagama and Maxwell Paranagama commissions in Parliament and a date for the debate could be allocated thereafter.