Petroleum Industries Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa yesterday lashed out at British Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Hugo Swire for making a statement devaluing the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) appointed by the Sri Lanka government.

He stressed that the Sri Lankan government is not concerned about the views of an individual or a country when the United Nations (UN) and other organizations have accepted the LLRC as a credible and viable process to promote reconciliation between the communities in the aftermath of the conflict and investigate the incidents that took place during that period of time. “We are not concerned about the views of an individual and Swire’s announcement means nothing,” he said.

Senior Minister DEW Gunasekera said the British government has apparently deviated from its original position over the LLRC process due to pressure from vested interests.

The senior minister further said that the views expressed by Swire that the LLRC has not met with international standards are contrary to that of the United Nations and the UN Human Rights Council.”Britain was fully satisfied with the LLRC process and they had earlier demanded a report,” he said.

Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and Senior Minister D.E.W. Gunasekera were responding to a statement made by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office on Wednesday, outlining that Sri Lanka’s domestic Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) appointed to address accountability issues did not meet international standards.

Responding to questions raised on Sri Lanka, the British Minister of State at the Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO) Hugo Swire said, “We have also highlighted that any domestic process should be credible, independent and transparent to be accepted by the international community. We do not believe that any of the processes established to date by the Sri Lankan Government – such as the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission – meet these standards”.