A final version of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission draft is to be shared with the diplomatic community and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) by next month before being submitted to Parliament, Sri Lankan Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe told yesterday (17).
He said the government was hopeful that once the TRC draft received parliamentary approval, it would come into operation by December.
The move came ahead of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s 53rd regular sessions starting tomorrow (19). The United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner Volker Türk will deliver an oral update on the human rights situation in Sri Lanka.
Earlier, the Cabinet of Ministers approved a joint-Cabinet memorandum on a Truth and Reconciliation mechanism inspired by South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It was submitted by Minister Rajapakshe and Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Sabry on May 29. The duo went to South Africa recently to study the mechanism.
The Sunday Times.
