Peace for the World

Peace for the World
First democratic leader of Justice the Godfather of the Sri Lankan Tamil Struggle: Honourable Samuel James Veluppillai Chelvanayakam

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

UK Hansard: Foreign Office Written Questions (March 5th 2012) - Sri Lanka



Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of steps by the Government of Sri Lanka to ensure a long-term post-conflict political settlement in that country. [97749]
Alistair Burt: The UK sees a political settlement, respect for human rights and accountability for alleged war crimes as being essential elements in post-conflict reconciliation in Sri Lanka.

The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), which was appointed by the Sri Lankan Government to examine events relating to the civil war from 2002 to 2009, published its report on 16 December. We believe the report contains many constructive recommendations for action on post-conflict reconciliation and a political settlement. But we were disappointed by the findings and recommendations on accountability. We encourage the Sri Lankan Government to move quickly to implement the LLRC report's recommendations.