Findings flawed and biased:

Govt reiterates stand on Report

Serving political agendas of interested parties:

The government reiterates its position that the ‘Darusman Report’ is fundamentally flawed in many respects and that among other deficiencies, the Report is based on biased material, which is presented without any verification, the External Affairs Ministry said in a media release.

Following the end of conflict, the government, has given the highest priority to post-conflict reconciliation, rehabilitation, reconstruction and development.

The government is in the process of addressing these challenges and has recorded significant success on many fronts, including in the resettlement of internally displaced persons, restoring livelihoods in conflict affected areas, release of former child soldiers recruited by terrorists, rehabilitation of detainees, de-mining, restoring democratic processes in the North and East as well as in the reconstruction of housing and infrastructure. The government is moving gradually and confidently forward along a process that will consolidate national unity and progress.

The public release of the Report at this stage is divisive, and disrupts government’s efforts to reinforce peace, security and stability in Sri Lanka. It feeds into the political agendas of interested parties.

The government however notes that the UNSG has correctly acknowledged the primacy of domestic responsibility in this regard.

The government has put in place of its own accord a domestic mechanism dealing with a range of issues relevant to the conflict to promote reconciliation and confidence among people.

UN Member States have welcomed this measure. Furthermore, the government has established an Inter-Agency Committee consisting of seven key ministries to proceed with the interim recommendations of the domestic mechanism, the LLRC.

The Government’s objective is to provide urgent relief and to engender a sense of confidence among the people affected by the conflict and give impetus to the reconciliation process.

The areas in which action has already commenced relate to land issues, law and order, administration and language issues as well as socio-economic and livelihood issues.

These actions have been initiated as a follow-up to the matters identified through the LLRC, deriving from testimony received from affected civilians in the country including from former conflict areas.

The conclusions of the externally constituted “Darusman Panel” working from New York should not take precedence over the conclusions, still awaited, of the domestic process.

The ‘Darusman Report’ refers to many issues which are alleged to have occurred in Sri Lanka and which are currently subject to a domestic process. This material can be looked at by the LLRC should it wish to do so, depending on its own assessment of the contents