Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the UK plans to put forward resolutions on Sri Lanka at the September session of the UNHRC regarding accountability for atrocities.

In March 2021, the UK Government and our Core Group partners led an ambitious new resolution (46/1) on Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The resolution provides a continued framework for international engagement on human rights in Sri Lanka, and highlights serious concerns about the situation, including those detailed in the January 2021 report of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). It calls on the government of Sri Lanka to make progress on accountability and human rights, and stresses the importance of a comprehensive accountability process for all violations and abuses committed in Sri Lanka. It keeps Sri Lanka firmly on the UNHRC agenda and requests continued and enhanced OHCHR reporting on the human rights situation and on accountability. Importantly, it also strengthened the capacity of OHCHR to collect, consolidate, preserve and analyse information and evidence to support future accountability processes. We continue to make clear our human rights concerns in statements made to the UNHRC, most recently on 14 June 2022. We will work with our partners to maintain the UNHRC's focus on Sri Lanka in the future.