Process of implementing LLRC recommendations underway: Lanka

Addressing the Colombo based diplomatic community, Peiris said that the recommendations, capable of short term implementation, had already been given effect, while work had begun in a structured manner with regard to the longer term proposals.

His comment came days after the cabinet approved the action plan to implement the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) which was appointed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to look back at the debilitating ethnic clashes which spanned over three decades.

Both Peiris and Lalith Weeratunga, the presidential secretary emphasised the importance of acknowledging the substantial results already achieved on the ground within a far shorter time span than had been necessary in post conflict situations in other parts of the world.

The LLRC was Sri Lanka's response to international calls for accountability over its alleged human rights violations during the last phase of the military campaign against the LTTE.

An expert panel of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in April 2011 urged Sri Lanka to investigate all rights violation accusations.

The action plan unveiled last week gave time frames for implementation of the LLRC recommendations.

The roadmap has committed the completion of ongoing "disciplinary" investigations by the security forces within 12 months and ensure that any resulting criminal charges are filed in court within another four years.