Sri Lanka is wasting the peace dividend

(From Globe and Mail)

The government of Sri Lanka is squandering an important opportunity to build lasting peace. Though its treatment of Tamils has been substantially moderated since the civil war’s end 18 months ago, President Mahinda Rajapaksa is still engaging in some oppressive policies toward them.

After nearly three decades of civil war, reconciliation between the country’s Sinhalese majority and Tamil minority was never going to be easy. But Mr. Rajapaksa, whose three brothers are also in government, must do more to quell ethnic tensions.

The government’s “Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Committee,” which is looking into claims the army killed tens of thousands of Tamil civilians and soldiers in the last phase of the war, lacks credibility.

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