Alistair Burt, British Foreign Office minister has today called on Sri Lanka to release the report on the findings of the controversial Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission.
“Many hope this report will mark a significant milestone in Sri Lanka’s recovery from conflict, and I call on the Government of Sri Lanka to seize this important opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to national reconciliation and accountability.
"Making the report public at the earliest opportunity is a vital part of this commitment and I look forward to the Government of Sri Lanka setting out the steps it will take in response to the report.”
Human rights organisations, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have slammed the commission as ‘flawed at every level’ and biased.
The British Shadow Foreign Secretary, Douglas Alexander said the Labour Pary is not convinced the commission is a ‘genuinely neutral body’ and that an international investigation is needed to look into the evidence.
The Conservatives have stated that if the LLRC ‘turns out to be a whitewash, and finds no real culpability at the top, you can be absolutely sure we will push hard for a formal UN report.'
See related articles:
‘Leaked’ LLRC extracts (17 Nov 2011)
LLRC witness summoned by Sri Lankan CID (14 Nov 2011)
US has ‘high expectations’ for LLRC (Nov 2011)
Amnesty on Sri Lanka's LLRC (Sep 2011)