{"id":233252,"date":"2023-07-13T03:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-12T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=233252"},"modified":"2023-07-13T03:46:03","modified_gmt":"2023-07-12T22:16:03","slug":"truth-telling-mechanisms-winning-the-publics-trust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/truth-telling-mechanisms-winning-the-publics-trust\/","title":{"rendered":"Truth-Telling Mechanisms & Winning The Public’s Trust"},"content":{"rendered":"

We the undersigned organisations are writing to express our deep concern about the Government’s proposal to establish the National Unity and Reconciliation\u00a0Commission (NURC). While we do believe that truth seeking is an important part of addressing past violations and suffering endured by communities, especially in the areas of the country most affected by the war, we are unable to support this proposed mechanism for the following reasons.<\/p>\n

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Buddhika Weerasinghe\/Getty Images<\/p><\/div>\n

The victim community has no confidence in any local commission or tribunal created by the Sri Lankan state. These commissions have in fact revealed the intentions of successive governments to scuttle truth-seeking and the victims’ quest for accountability. Leading functionaries and politicians have time and again declared publicly that the government will not betray the war heroes and patriotic forces.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The NURC is being introduced in the absence of a judicial mechanism: in 2015 the Government committed itself to establishing 4 transitional justice structures, including a judicial mechanism with a Special Counsel but more than 8 years later this has yet to be implemented. The failure to do so has denied victims the opportunity to seek justice through a credible mechanism as they have lost faith in the domestic justice system. The lack of accountability for past crimes has deepened the culture of impunity.<\/p>\n

The NURC is one among a series of commissions established by different governments over the last 30 years. Many of these structures that operated like some form of truth commissions produced\u00a0reports with a broad range of recommendations. Many of these recommendations remain unimplemented. So what guarantees are there that the recommendations from the NURC will be implemented?<\/p>\n

In such a context is it fair to call on victims to appear before yet another commission, when victims risk being re-traumatised and face security threats for speaking out?<\/p>\n

There have been talks about involvement of foreign experts in the NURC. In the past the Sri Lankan government called for foreign expertise. For example the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons, headed by India’s former Chief Justice PN Bhagwati and including the leading Japanese professor Yozo Yokota. But the eminent-persons group quit in disappointment in March 2008, due to\u00a0 government interference\u00a0 <\/span>and the conflict of interest on the part of the Attorney General\u2019s Department Counsel who were in charge of leading the evidence of witnesses before the commission.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When people appeared before the Consultation\u00a0Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms in 2016 they spoke of their exhaustion of appearing before previous commissions and their loss of trust and confidence as they had appeared before so many commissions but with little changes on the ground.<\/p>\n

Discovery of mass graves have become a daily phenomenon in Sri Lanka however the government has no intention to hold credible investigation into the matter. Instead of assisting the process of investigation by appointing expert team and sufficient funds to continues the process, the government officially have always obstructed the processes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We call upon the Government and the international community, especially countries like South Africa who have been trying to advocate for this mechanism, disregarding our lived experience to these concerns.<\/p>\n

We also want to place on record that the civil society, victims and witnesses who came forward to make complaints and engage with the state, including the Office of Missing Persons have been intimidated, threatened and to date are under heavy surveillance. Their work and voice on finding the truth have been silenced deliberately by various arms of state intelligence and other structures.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If the Government is interested in winning the public’s trust it should take following steps:<\/p>\n