{"id":114370,"date":"2013-11-10T01:04:53","date_gmt":"2013-11-09T19:34:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=114370"},"modified":"2013-11-14T13:05:38","modified_gmt":"2013-11-14T07:35:38","slug":"the-truth-will-set-you-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-truth-will-set-you-free\/","title":{"rendered":"The Truth Will Set You Free"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Malinda Seneviratne<\/a><\/span>\u00a0–<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Malinda<\/a>

Malinda Seneviratne<\/p><\/div>\n

There is a lot of irony in the Government mulling the setting up of a Truth Commission on the lines of the model adopted by post-apartheid South Africa just days after the Chairman<\/span><\/a> of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC<\/span><\/a>), former Attorney General C.R. De Silva<\/span><\/a> passed away.<\/p>\n

The LLRC was maligned even before it began sittings by many who were virulently opposed to the Government.\u00a0 Its independence was questioned, its mandate found fault with and the value of conclusions pre-judged. Ironically, these very same objectors praised the LLRC report and, true to form, castigated the Government for not implementing recommendations therein.\u00a0 The objectors turned cheer-leaders, naturally, indulged in a pick-and-choose exercise that amounted to an affront to the Commission and the tireless and thankless work it did.<\/p>\n

Part of the irony is Bishop Desmond Tutu<\/span><\/a>\u2019s involvement in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of South Africa.\u00a0 Tutu has uttered unadulterated nonsense on Sri Lanka, regurgitating fabrications circulated by the LTTE.\u00a0 That said, the TRC is still worthy of visitation by a nation facing multiple post-conflict challenges, including the unfair and pernicious attacks by outside forces that cannot stomach the fact that their outcome preferences did not materialize.<\/p>\n

The LLRC is said to have exceeded mandate, but few if any will claim that C.R. De Silva and his fellow commissioners were moved by anything but good intention.\u00a0 The proposed Commission must not only complement the LLRC but be teethed in a manner that makes implementation of recommendation a non-negotiable outcome.<\/p>\n

Critics will no doubt scoff at this move, citing the numerous commissions that have been appointed whose reports and recommendations gather dust to this day.\u00a0 They will also question the independence of such commissions.\u00a0 Such commissions can only be appointed by the President, after all, and any forum set up to tackle issues pertaining to the conflict will have to contend with allegations of human rights violations which, as we know, include accusations of direct or indirect involvement by the Government.\u00a0 Wild and politically motivated though these allegations are, with little evidence to warrant finger-pointing, they have acquired, as designed, lives of their own.\u00a0 That\u2019s a political reality that the Government has to contend with.<\/p>\n

The only way that questions over independence can be met would be for President Mahinda Rajapaksa<\/span><\/a> to solicit recommendations of modalities as well as composition from people conversant on the subject of justice who are also widely (locally and internationally) recognized for their impeccable integrity.\u00a0\u00a0 Sources close to the President indicate that the views of people such as Justice Weeramantry will be solicited.<\/p>\n

While a document leaked to and published by Wikileaks<\/span><\/a> clearly indicate that even the ICRC (which had a \u2018presence\u2019 in the conflict area right until the end) was convinced that there was no \u2018policy<\/span><\/a>\u2019 of killing civilians and as such clearly absolves the central command of all operations (headed by the President and the Secretary of Defence) of any wrongdoing, wrongdoing there probably was as in the case of all conflicts.\u00a0 In Sri Lanka, what was seen was a massive hostage rescue operation, indeed the biggest the world has ever known.\u00a0 It is unthinkable that innocent lives were not lost.\u00a0 It is also unthinkable that there were no errant soldiers who fought out-of-line, so to speak.<\/p>\n

Cynics will pooh-pooh this move by the President, claiming that it is eye-wash timed to placate those who might give the Government a hard time during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM<\/span><\/a>) which begins next week.\u00a0 The onus then is on the President to prove them wrong.\u00a0 The only way he can do this is to \u2018fix\u2019 modalities, mandates and composition by acting strictly on the recommendations of people like Justice Weeramantry<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

All it will take is a single phone call followed by a public statement indicating directions and naming persons relevant to the exercise.<\/p>\n

Not least of all, it would be fitting tribute to the late C.R. De Silva and the exhausting work he presided over.<\/p>\n

*Malinda Seneviratne is the Chief Editor of \u2018The Nation\u2019\u00a0and his articles can be found at\u00a0www.malindawords.blogspot.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":105560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Truth Will Set You Free - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-truth-will-set-you-free\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Truth Will Set You Free - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-truth-will-set-you-free\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-11-09T19:34:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-11-14T07:35:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Malinda-Seneviratne-150x150.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"130\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"135\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-truth-will-set-you-free\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-truth-will-set-you-free\/\",\"name\":\"The Truth Will Set You Free - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-truth-will-set-you-free\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-truth-will-set-you-free\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Malinda-Seneviratne-150x150.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-11-09T19:34:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-11-14T07:35:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-truth-will-set-you-free\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-truth-will-set-you-free\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-truth-will-set-you-free\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Malinda-Seneviratne-150x150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Malinda-Seneviratne-150x150.jpg\",\"width\":\"130\",\"height\":\"135\",\"caption\":\"Malinda Seneviratne\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-truth-will-set-you-free\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Truth Will Set You Free\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\",\"name\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Truth Will Set You Free - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-truth-will-set-you-free\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Truth Will Set You Free - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[…]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-truth-will-set-you-free\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2013-11-09T19:34:53+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-11-14T07:35:38+00:00","og_image":[{"width":130,"height":135,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Malinda-Seneviratne-150x150.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-truth-will-set-you-free\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-truth-will-set-you-free\/","name":"The Truth Will Set You Free - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-truth-will-set-you-free\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-truth-will-set-you-free\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Malinda-Seneviratne-150x150.jpg","datePublished":"2013-11-09T19:34:53+00:00","dateModified":"2013-11-14T07:35:38+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-truth-will-set-you-free\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-truth-will-set-you-free\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-truth-will-set-you-free\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Malinda-Seneviratne-150x150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Malinda-Seneviratne-150x150.jpg","width":"130","height":"135","caption":"Malinda Seneviratne"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-truth-will-set-you-free\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Truth Will Set You Free"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3","name":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Malinda-Seneviratne-150x150.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114370"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114370\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":114779,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114370\/revisions\/114779"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}