The Promise of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC)

  • Neloufer de Mel

Summary

This essay raises some issues about justice in post-war Sri Lanka in relation to the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) and selected women who testified before the commission. It contextualizes the LLRC within two dominant schools of thought on justice and takes into account several factors that shaped its formation and functioning. It also speaks to a paradox: of why the LLRC attracted hundreds of witnesses from within Sri Lanka and approximately 5,000 written submissions when its very legitimacy was in question by both international and local actors, and in some cases by the witnesses who came forward themselves.

Citation

De Mel, Neloufer. “The Promise of the LLRC: Women’s Testimony and Justice in Post-War Sri Lanka.” ICES Research Paper 4, International Centre for Ethnic Studies, 2013.

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