Sri Lanka's reconciliation task force extends deadline

A task force appointed by Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on reconciliation mechanisms with the Tamil minority community on Wednesday said it has extended the deadline for public submissions until June 24.

Wickremesinghe appointed the Consultations Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms in January to consult members of the public on the processes and mechanisms for reconciliation to seek truth and justice, ensure accountability for human rights violations and provide measures for redress.

The task force invited submissions from the public on the design of structures, processes and measures to seek truth and justice. The earlier deadline was May 1. Individuals, groups and organisations were allowed to make submissions in Sinhala, Tamil or English.

These submissions will be used in the compilation of a report, which will be submitted to the government and made public. This is part of the action by the new government headed by President Maithripala Sirisena to try and achieve reconciliation with the Tamil minority.

The government has indicated that it is considering an Office of Missing Persons, a Truth, Justice, Reconciliation and Non-Recurrence Commission, a Judicial Mechanism with a Special Counsel and an Office of Reparations as part of the reconciliation mechanism.

The move was also seen as Lanka's response to the UN Human Rights Council s co-sponsored resolution with the US last year. The resolution called for concrete action on human rights accountability and reconciliation.