A Court of Inquiry [CoI], set up to probe if Sri Lankan forces committed any excesses during the last stages of the war, will submit its report “in a few days”.
Army Commander Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya said here the report was almost ready and would take “a few more days”.
“They [the CoI] will be handing over the report to me soon. After which, I will hand it over to the Defence Secretary with my comments,” he said.
The United Nations estimated that about 40,000 civilians died in the last stages of the conflict up to May 2009, in Eelam War IV, which obliterated the Tamil Tigers. Multiple reports from international NGOs, and the U.N., have held Sri Lankan forces responsible for shelling the civilian population, and hospitals.
The Army set up the CoI in pursuance of a specific recommendation in a government-commissioned report, the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), which looked into a whole gamut of issues relating to the war.
In pursuance of another recommendation in the LLRC report, the army had appointed a Board of Enquiry to suggest ways and means to further reconciliatory efforts. “This report has been handed over to me,” said Lt. Gen. Jayasuriya.
“I will hand over the report to the Defence Secretary on Thursday,” he added.
Sixty-four countries have been invited to attend the annual defence seminar to be held from the 3rd to the 5th of September, the theme of which will be ‘Post Conflict Sri Lanka — Challenges and Regional Stability’.
