Daily NEWS Srilanka

The Secretary to the President stressed that the Sri Lankan government has done all that was humanly possible to implement the National Plan of Action to carry out the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission. Secretary to the President made this reference while speaking to the international community.

The President’s Secretary was apprising the permanent representatives of the United Nations in Geneva the efforts that went into restoring normalcy to the lives of those who were affected by the 30 year terrorist conflict. Mr. Weeratunga who chairs the Committee Monitoring the National Plan of Action on the Implementation of the National Action plan on LLRC touched on the developments relating to the Commission of Inquiry into alleged disappearances which held its first public sittings in Killinochchi recently.

Mr. Weeratunge detailed the action taken by the government over the past 18 months to give effect to the recommendations of the LLRC in the areas of international humanitarian law issues, human rights, land return and resettlement, restitution/ compensatory relief and reconciliation. He emphasized the importance of the opposition including the Tamil National Alliance joining the government to make the Parliamentary Select Committee which had been constituted, fully functional.

The Secretary emphasized that the solutions to reconciliation cannot be found overnight and that trying to do so at the stroke of a pen could be detrimental to a sustained process.

During the break given to raise queries, representatives of many countries acclaimed the dedication made by the Government to implement the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission. Certain representatives made queries with regard to its implementation and a time frame for this process.

A majority of the representatives were of the view that the international community should extend support to Sri Lanka. They also pointed that there should be interactions with Sri Lanka with respect to issues related to human rights. Mr. Weeratunge expressed his thanks to the international community for the support given to implement the Action Plan.