Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Sri Lankan counterpart on that country's decision to withdraw from its commitments under the UN Human Rights Council resolution 30/1 and 34/1; and if he will make a statement.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister for the Commonwealth and South Asia met the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena on 25 February in Geneva to express the UK's serious concern about his country's announcement that it no longer supports the UN Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka, and to urge him to reconsider. On 27 February the UK made clear our continued support for the resolution and its principles of reconciliation, accountability and justice for victims of conflict in a statement delivered at the UN Human Rights Council by the Core Group on Sri Lanka.