COLOMBO, January 24, 2013 | The Hindu
R. K. Radhakrishnan
A Court of Inquiry [CoI], set up to probe if Sri
Lankan forces committed any excesses during the last stages of the war, will
submit its report “in a few days”.
Army Commander Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya
said here the report was almost ready and would take “a few more days”.
“They [the CoI] will be handing over the report to me
soon. After which, I will hand it over to the Defence Secretary with my
comments,” he said.
The United Nations estimated that about 40,000
civilians died in the last stages of the conflict up to May 2009, in Eelam War
IV, which obliterated the Tamil Tigers. Multiple reports from international
NGOs, and the U.N., have held Sri Lankan forces responsible for shelling the
civilian population, and hospitals.
The Army set up the CoI in pursuance of a specific
recommendation in a government-commissioned report, the Lessons Learnt and
Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), which looked into a whole gamut of issues
relating to the war.
In pursuance of another recommendation in the LLRC
report, the army had appointed a Board of Enquiry to suggest ways and means to
further reconciliatory efforts. “This report has been handed over to me,” said
Lt. Gen. Jayasuriya.
“I will hand over the report to the Defence Secretary
on Thursday,” he added.
Sixty-four countries have been invited to attend the
annual defence seminar to be held from the 3rd to the 5th of September, the
theme of which will be ‘Post Conflict Sri Lanka — Challenges and Regional
Stability’.
