Clinton praises SLs plans to implement LLRC recommendations
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday praised Sri Lankas plan to implement post-conflict recommendations made by an independent commission recently, during a meeting with External Affairs Minister Prof G L Peiris. During their 45-minute meeting, Minister Peiris outlined the mechanism adopted by the Presidential Secretariat that will be used to implement recommendations made by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), which examined Sri Lankas successful conflict against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
The commission issued its final report, and 285 recommendations, late last year.
The government at that time announced its intention to adopt many of the recommendations, and several have already been put in place.During Fridays meeting, Clinton called the Presidential Secretariats programme an, excellent mechanism for implementing the LLRC recommendations.
That sentiment was later repeated in the State Departments daily press briefing, where spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Prof Peiris presented a very serious and comprehensive approach to the Lesson Learnt and Reconciliation Commissions implementation and the plan the government has, including plans to make it more public and accessible both to Sri Lankans and to those outside Sri Lanka.
Prior to the meeting, Clinton said: The United States strongly supports the process of reconciliation and reconstruction in Sri Lanka. We have very strong and important ties between our two countries. We were encouraged to see the end of a very long, bloody, terrible conflict, and look forward to working with Sri Lanka as they pursue their commitment to a better future for all the people.
The United States wants to be a supportive partner in those efforts.
On the fourth and final day of! his off icial Washington visit, Minister Peiris noted that he last met with Clinton in 2010, and that, During the intervening period of two years, a great deal has happened in Sri Lanka, and by any standard, those developments represent a substantial accomplishment.
We have been able to complete 90 percent of the work connected with the resettlement of the people who were displaced by the conflict, and there is also a very moving story in human terms with regard to the ex-combatants who have all been rehabilitated. This includes 595 child soldiers who they have all been reintegrated into society.
The minister said the most striking developments have really been in the northern province where the economy is growing by as much as 22 percent in comparison with the average for the rest of the island, which is about eight percent.
We are, at the same time, addressing other aspects of reconciliation including land, language, which is a key to the understanding of other cultures, and it is also, as I am sure you would agree, a very powerful instrument for preventing the stratification of society. We are also addressing, in earnest, constitutional reforms which are appropriate at this stage of the countrys political and social development.
The talk with Clinton capped a day of constructive meetings within the State Department for Minister Peiris. Stops there included sessions with assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian Affairs and a former US ambassador to Sri Lanka Robert Blake, assistant secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labour Michael Posnerr and ambassador-at-large for Global Criminal Justice Stephen Rapp.
Minister Peiris also held constructive discussions with senior advisor to the Office of the Special Advisor for Non Proliferation and Arms Control Ambassador William Wood and deputy assistant secretary of the Bureau of Energy Resources, in charge of Iran Sanctions Issues Amos Hochstein.
Also present were Environment Minister Anura Priyadhashana Yapa, Mo! nitoring MP of External Affairs Ministry Sajin de Vass Gunawardena, Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga, Sri Lankas ambassador to US Jaliya Wickramasuriya, Additional Secretary /External Affairs Ministry Kshenuka Seneviratne, and Deputy Chief of Mission Esala Weerakoon of the Sri Lankan embassy in the US.