Sri Lanka: Human Rights

(asked on 19th January 2021) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he has taken towards securing a new resolution on human rights in Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council in March 2021.


Answered by
Nigel Adams Portrait
Nigel Adams
This question was answered on 26th January 2021

The UK has long supported efforts to promote accountability, reconciliation and human rights in Sri Lanka, including in our role as penholder on Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). We firmly believe that UNHRC resolution 30/1, and its successor resolutions 34/1 and 40/1, remain the best framework for establishing truth and achieving justice and lasting reconciliation following the conflict in Sri Lanka. We have made this clear in statements delivered on behalf of the Core Group on Sri Lanka at the UNHRC in February, June and September 2020.

The Minister of State for South Asia and Minister responsible for Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, has raised the importance of justice and accountability on several occasions with the Sri Lankan High Commissioner and the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, most recently on 21 December and 22 January respectively. The UK's High Commissioner to Sri Lanka also regularly raises human rights issues in her discussions with the government of Sri Lanka.

Ahead of the March 2021 session of the UNHRC, the UK are working closely with international partners on our approach, and have discussed this with representatives of the Sri Lankan Government.

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