30 October, 2011 – Published 15:31 GMT

People gathered to testify before the LLRC in the east (file photo)

The LLRC has received more than 5000 written statements

The much anticipated report of Sri Lanka war panel will not be made public by the panel, its spokesman said.

Lakshman Wickramasinghe, the spokesman for Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), told BBC Sandeshaya that the panel received 1000 oral testimonies.

More than 5000 written statements were also handed over to the panel.

Mr Wickramasinghe confirmed that the panel report is scheduled to be handed over to the President Mahinda Rajapaksa by the second week of November.

"It is up to the president to decide the next course of action," he told BBC Sinhala service.

‘Limited mandate’

International rights watchdogs: Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and International Crisis Group rejected an invitation by the panel to testify questioning the ‘limited mandate’ and the procedures adopted by the panel.

LLRC

‘The reports of other commissions similar to this have not even been made public,’ says Martti Ahtisaari

Sri Lanka has appointed many presidential commissions to look into serious human rights violations during the conflict with the Tamil Tigers and before the conflict broke out.

Some presidential panels were appointed to look into alleged corruption by the military leaders in procuring weapons for the military.

None of the commission reports were ever made public.

The Elders Group, formed by Nelson Mandela, said it was sceptical of the panel’s work even before it was appointed.

Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari earlier told BBC that the Elders were sceptical about the LLRC’s work "looking at previous examples of special commissions in Sri Lanka.

"Over the last 30 years the reports of other commissions similar to this have not even been made public. So this effort leaves much to be desired," said Mr Ahtisaari.

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