Final Report of the Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms - Volume I - Sri Lanka

The Consultation Task Force (CTF) of 11 members drawn from civil society was appointed by the Prime Minister in late January 2016, to seek the views and comments of the public on the proposed mechanisms for transitional justice and reconciliation, as per the October 2015 UN Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka, co-sponsored by the Government of Sri Lanka. The consultations were not restricted to these mechanisms and encompassed discussion of other mechanisms and processes for reconciliation the public wished to propose.

The Final Report of the consultation is organised according to the proposed four mechanisms and overarching issues such as psychosocial support and State and societal reform pertaining to transitional justice and reconciliation, with each meriting a chapter of its own. The other chapters include an introduction laying out the context of the consultations and enduring factors that would impact reconciliation into the future as well as a chapter on the methodology of the consultations. The chapters on the mechanisms are based on the views expressed by the public in the consultation process and contain both observations of the public as well as explicit recommendations in respect of each mechanism—the Office on Missing Persons (OMP), Office of Reparations, a Truth, Justice, Reconciliation and Non-Recurrence Commissions (TJRNRC) and a Judicial Mechanism comprising of a Special Court and Office of a Special Counsel. The concluding chapter is devoted to the recommendations of the CTF, which are informed by the views and opinions expressed by the general public and stakeholders at the consultations.