Forty five students from the University of Ruhuna participated in a training programme on Transitional Justice (TJ) with team building activities, lectures, film screenings and participatory discussions under NPC’s project Youth Engagement with Transitional Justice for Long-lasting Peace in Sri Lanka.
The students were shown a war film and had a discussion on the issues involved.
They were introduced to the four pillars of TJ by lawyer Jagath Liyana Arachchi. They did a group presentation on the steps that could be taken by the government and civil organizations to promote TJ and participated in role playing exercises.
NPC Executive Director Dr Jehan Perera discussed peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka and suggested initiatives that university students could take to build sustainable peace.
The students were presented with several statements on peace and reconciliation, which they had to agree or disagree with and justify their positions.
Some students were from border villages and had experienced the civil war first hand. They related how they had had to flee to the forest to escape attack without lighting a single lamp and how they had seen their loved ones killed before their eyes.
The students suggested that the training programme should be held for younger students to give them an understanding about the causes of the war and to educate them on the importance of the TJ process.