As was said to us by one of the law professors with whom we met, you cannot have a process of reconciliation until someone admits that something bad happened. It may have happened on both sides. There may not be just one group of people at fault. But we should look at the remarkable example set by our commonwealth brothers and sisters in South Africa, with their Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It was based upon the premise that people admitted that something bad had happened during the time of apartheid, that people were brutalized, that their rights were crushed, that individuals were killed in police and other actions that were excessive.
Someone must be prepared to make admissions. To be fair, the absence of accountability exists on both sides. There's been no accountability for the Tamil Tigers, who are a brutal terrorist organization. Nor has there been any accountability on the part of the Sri Lankan government, its armed forces, and its authorities. This is why the United Nations Human Rights Council said that if Sri Lankans do not begin their own inquiry into excesses around torture and war crimes, the UN will be seeking to have an international inquiry developed.
I want to point out that the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom has indicated that if there is not sufficient action by the Sri Lankans themselves, the United Kingdom will be very supportive of any proposals that would come forward for an international inquiry on that issue.