Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission

The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC, Sinhala: උගත් පාඩම් හා ප්‍රතිසන්ධාන කොමිෂන් සභාව Ugath Padam Ha Prathisandhana Komishan Sabhava, Tamil: கற்றுக்கொண்ட பாடங்கள் மற்றும் நல்லிணக்க ஆணைக்குழு) was a commission of inquiry appointed by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in May 2010 after the 26-year-long civil war in Sri Lanka to function as a Truth and reconciliation commission.^[1] The commission was mandated to investigate the facts and circumstances which led to the failure of the ceasefire agreement made operational on 27 February 2002, the lessons that should be learnt from those events and the institutional, administrative and legislative measures which need to be taken in order to prevent any recurrence of such concerns in the future, and to promote further national unity and reconciliation among all communities.^{[citation needed]} After an 18-month inquiry, the commission submitted its report to the President on 15 November 2011. The report was made public on 16 December 2011, after being tabled in the parliament.^[2]

The commission concluded that the Sri Lankan military didn't deliberately target civilians but the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) repeatedly violated international humanitarian law.^[3] According to the commission the military gave the "highest priority" to protecting civilians whereas the Tamil Tigers had had "no respect for human life".^[4] The commission admitted that civilians had been killed by the Sri Lankan military, albeit accidentally, contradicting the government's line that there were zero civilian casualties.^[5] The commission did, however, receive some eyewitness evidence alleging abuse by the military which warranted further investigation and, if necessary, the prosecution of perpetrators.^[6] The commission acknowledged that hospitals had been shelled, resulting "considerable civilian casualties", but it did not say who was responsible for the shelling.^[4] The commission blamed Sinhalese and Tamil politicians for causing the civil war: the Sinhalese politicians failed to offer a solution acceptable to the Tamil people and the Tamil politicians fanned militant separatism.^[5]

The commission has been heavily criticised by international human rights groups, the UN Panel of Experts and others due its limited mandate, alleged lack of independence and its failure to meet minimum international standards or offer protection to witnesses.^[4][7] These critics believed that the Sri Lankan government was using the commission as a tool to prevent an independent international investigation of alleged abuses.^[8] As a consequence of this Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Crisis Group refused to appear before the commission.^[9]