The Sri Lankan Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) has suggested to President Mahinda Rajapaksa interim measures to better the lot of resettled Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and people living in former conflict areas.
Measures suggested by the eight-member Commission include enabling people to use their own language in official dealings, especially making statements to the police.
The Commission was constituted by Mr. Rajapaksa in May this year to probe the incidents from early 2002 (when the Norwegian-brokered ceasefire agreement between the government and the LTTE came into vogue) and the end of the war in 2009. It has been asked to fix responsibility and recommend ways for reconciliation between the majority and minority communities.
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The interim report comes days before Mr. Rajapaksa is scheduled to address the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The speech is of special interest as Sri Lanka had gotten embroiled in a debate with the world body over Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's decision to appoint an international experts panel to advise him on the alleged human rights violations in the last phase of the war. Sri Lanka had questioned the need for an international probe and maintained that the LLRC would take care of the issue.
An official statement on the LLRC recommendations said they required only changes in administrative practices and was brought to the attention of the President by members of the LLRC who met him on Monday night.
The LLRC has so far held 14 public sittings in Colombo and six in Vavuniya.
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