Challenges before The Truth and Reconciliation Commission
“Truth hates delay…” – Seneca the Younger
Sandesh Bartlett-Tuesday, May 28, 2019
When the guns finally went silent on May 18, 2009 what can only be described, as a largely alien experience swept across almost every Sri Lankan household. There was revelry and celebration in some at the prospect of a long-awaited peace, and in others a deep sense of relief and reflection. Sri Lanka’s experience with multiple cycles of violence from the JVP insurrection, to the 83’ riots and the Civil War appeared to have finally come to a conclusion— a bloody one at the highest cost to be certain, but a conclusion nevertheless. Yet this is only one narrative in a story with too many participants.
Every Sri Lankan citizen has at some point in his or her life been plucked from the daily routine of ordinary civilian life and plunged into the fog of war, suicide-bombs, terrorist attacks, insurrection and the sewage of ugly politics. To say that there is only one narrative of the history of violence in the Sri Lankan context is a severe injustice.
There are simply too many narratives of the truth obscured by many uncertainties as was soon made apparent. As the fog of war began to lift a wide range of allegations against the Government and the L.T.T.E. beleaguered the country on every front marring Sri Lanka’s newfound peace and obstructing its potential for post-war growth and reconciliation.
Post-war burden
As time went by other allegations regarding events both new and old flooded in. Soon accusations regarding disappeared persons, murders, and anti-ethnic pogroms were made referring to incidents as far back as the JVP Insurrection to as recent as its post war period (such as the anti-Mulsim pogrom of 2014) adding to the weight of the Sri Lankan public’s post-war burden.
The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) authorised by Former-President Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2011 was one of the earliest responses by the Government in regards to the allegations.
The LLRC produced the Government’s version of events regarding the war from the Ceasefire Agreement of 2002 and made recommendations to foster national unity and the non-recurrence of violence.
While the report found criticism among the international audience for being what they argued was a convenient attempt at absolving the accused from blame under the pretext of addressing the allegations the fact that there have been reports as far back as 2011 demonstrate that the former regime was aware of the need for reconciliation in light of the allegations.
Following the 2015 election, the Unity Government charged the Consultation Task Force (CTF) with producing a report and recommendations that would deliver reconciliation to all war-affected parts of Sri Lankan society. Among its many recommendations was the establishment of four specific mechanisms:
1) The Office on Missing Persons (OMP)
2) The Office for Reparations. (OR)
3) A Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)
4) A Judicial Mechanism
When the Government seized ownership of the reconciliation process following UNHRC Resolution 30/1 it took into consideration the recommendations provided by the CTF report and earlier recommendations by the LLRC. With the relatively recent establishment of the OMP and OR and the former’s operationalization, the establishment of a TRC for the purpose of truth finding in regards to the alleged Human Rights violation has garnered some attention.
Truth and Reconciliation Commissions are nothing new in the world of peacebuilding and post-conflict. Established bodies that have a fixed term to facilitate transition to the democratic norm, TRC’s play a pivotal role in documenting patterns and identifying perpetrators, ensuring non-resurgence and acknowledging the violence. Perhaps the most famous example is South Africa’s Post-Apartheid TRC which gained world renown for successfully facilitating reconciliation through investigating and recording incidents of human rights violations in a racially divisive setting many in the international arena feared would teeter into the troubling outcome of civil war. Under 30/1, Sri Lanka’s TRC once established will similarly have to perform a myriad of functions involving the collection of evidence to establish the truth regarding the allegations, identifying perpetrators and highlighting responsibility in order to facilitate the reconciliation process.
Rehabilitation programmes
It is easy to mistake the TRC as a mechanism that only involves rehabilitating the general public and returning it to the democratic norm; the process also involves the rehabilitation of a variety of persons including Government soldiers, ex-L.T.T.E. cadres and child-soldiers abused and recruited by the L.T.T.E. However determining the truth for such matters is often a tedious process demanding substantial evidence that must be carefully gathered and evaluated before a statement can be made. It is simply not a task for hasty or insincere effort.
The challenge for Sri Lanka will be installing a TRC that can not only addresses the allegations levied against the State, but also address the structural divisions within society and politics that have led to violent incidents in the first place. Addressing and remedying a system that has gained worldwide notoriety for impunity and corruption at this point seems more a delusion than a reality but with the right expertise it just might prove a probable outcome.
There is no shortage of TRC experts at home and abroad in countries like South Africa who have practical experience on Truth and Reconciliation processes whose circumstances and capacity have been worse than Sri Lanka’s. This brings up the additional challenge of dissuading the longstanding fear spread by radical right-wing Sri Lankans over “foreign conspiracies” and attempts to “recolonize the motherland” which is never an easy task.
One thing is certain however. Despite its violent past, Sri Lanka has been blessed with a diversity of faith with each religion placing emphasis on the value of truth. It is oft times necessary that truths no matter how bitter be swallowed, rather than the sweetest lies — medication and healing has never been a saccharine affair.
Sandesh Bartlett-Tuesday, May 28, 2019
Every Sri Lankan citizen has at some point in his or her life been plucked from the daily routine of ordinary civilian life and plunged into the fog of war, suicide-bombs, terrorist attacks, insurrection and the sewage of ugly politics. To say that there is only one narrative of the history of violence in the Sri Lankan context is a severe injustice.
There are simply too many narratives of the truth obscured by many uncertainties as was soon made apparent. As the fog of war began to lift a wide range of allegations against the Government and the L.T.T.E. beleaguered the country on every front marring Sri Lanka’s newfound peace and obstructing its potential for post-war growth and reconciliation.
Post-war burden
As time went by other allegations regarding events both new and old flooded in. Soon accusations regarding disappeared persons, murders, and anti-ethnic pogroms were made referring to incidents as far back as the JVP Insurrection to as recent as its post war period (such as the anti-Mulsim pogrom of 2014) adding to the weight of the Sri Lankan public’s post-war burden.
The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) authorised by Former-President Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2011 was one of the earliest responses by the Government in regards to the allegations.
The LLRC produced the Government’s version of events regarding the war from the Ceasefire Agreement of 2002 and made recommendations to foster national unity and the non-recurrence of violence.
While the report found criticism among the international audience for being what they argued was a convenient attempt at absolving the accused from blame under the pretext of addressing the allegations the fact that there have been reports as far back as 2011 demonstrate that the former regime was aware of the need for reconciliation in light of the allegations.
Following the 2015 election, the Unity Government charged the Consultation Task Force (CTF) with producing a report and recommendations that would deliver reconciliation to all war-affected parts of Sri Lankan society. Among its many recommendations was the establishment of four specific mechanisms:
1) The Office on Missing Persons (OMP)
2) The Office for Reparations. (OR)
3) A Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)
4) A Judicial Mechanism
When the Government seized ownership of the reconciliation process following UNHRC Resolution 30/1 it took into consideration the recommendations provided by the CTF report and earlier recommendations by the LLRC. With the relatively recent establishment of the OMP and OR and the former’s operationalization, the establishment of a TRC for the purpose of truth finding in regards to the alleged Human Rights violation has garnered some attention.
Truth and Reconciliation Commissions are nothing new in the world of peacebuilding and post-conflict. Established bodies that have a fixed term to facilitate transition to the democratic norm, TRC’s play a pivotal role in documenting patterns and identifying perpetrators, ensuring non-resurgence and acknowledging the violence. Perhaps the most famous example is South Africa’s Post-Apartheid TRC which gained world renown for successfully facilitating reconciliation through investigating and recording incidents of human rights violations in a racially divisive setting many in the international arena feared would teeter into the troubling outcome of civil war. Under 30/1, Sri Lanka’s TRC once established will similarly have to perform a myriad of functions involving the collection of evidence to establish the truth regarding the allegations, identifying perpetrators and highlighting responsibility in order to facilitate the reconciliation process.
Rehabilitation programmes
It is easy to mistake the TRC as a mechanism that only involves rehabilitating the general public and returning it to the democratic norm; the process also involves the rehabilitation of a variety of persons including Government soldiers, ex-L.T.T.E. cadres and child-soldiers abused and recruited by the L.T.T.E. However determining the truth for such matters is often a tedious process demanding substantial evidence that must be carefully gathered and evaluated before a statement can be made. It is simply not a task for hasty or insincere effort.
The challenge for Sri Lanka will be installing a TRC that can not only addresses the allegations levied against the State, but also address the structural divisions within society and politics that have led to violent incidents in the first place. Addressing and remedying a system that has gained worldwide notoriety for impunity and corruption at this point seems more a delusion than a reality but with the right expertise it just might prove a probable outcome.
There is no shortage of TRC experts at home and abroad in countries like South Africa who have practical experience on Truth and Reconciliation processes whose circumstances and capacity have been worse than Sri Lanka’s. This brings up the additional challenge of dissuading the longstanding fear spread by radical right-wing Sri Lankans over “foreign conspiracies” and attempts to “recolonize the motherland” which is never an easy task.
One thing is certain however. Despite its violent past, Sri Lanka has been blessed with a diversity of faith with each religion placing emphasis on the value of truth. It is oft times necessary that truths no matter how bitter be swallowed, rather than the sweetest lies — medication and healing has never been a saccharine affair.
