Sri Lanka

Lord Naseby Excerpts

Wednesday 26th February 2014 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Naseby]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by the Prime Minister on 16 November 2013 that the United Kingdom would allow Sri Lanka until March to begin credible investigations into allegations of war crimes before taking steps through the United Nations, why they are already working to influence the United Nations Human Rights Council to call for an international investigation.

[Lord Naseby (Con)]

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper. In doing so, I declare an interest as chairman of the All-Party British-Sri Lanka Group.

[The Senior Minister of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Warsi) (Con)]

My Lords, the Prime Minister said that we will use our position on the UN Human Rights Council to call for an international investigation if credible domestic accountability processes have not begun properly by March. As with any resolution ahead of the March UNHRC, we are discussing the Sri Lanka resolution with members. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said this week that there were limited and piecemeal domestic steps towards accountability and recommended an international investigation.

[Lord Naseby]

I thank my noble friend but, as we are still in February, will she recognise that three things have happened recently? First, on war crimes, will the Foreign and Commonwealth Office study the evidence of the new Tamil film, “The Last Phase”? Secondly, will the Minister read Professor Moorcraft’s new book? Thirdly, on the book, Corrupted Journalism, there is now conclusive evidence that that film from Channel 4 features two key independent female witnesses, so alleged, who were in fact fully paid up members of the Tamil Tigers? Will my noble friend now publish the dispatches from our military attaché from Colombo, who witnessed the final stages of the war? Finally, will she encourage the work that South Africa and Sri Lanka are doing to construct a truth and reconciliation commission?