Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether (a) he or (b) officials in his Department have had recent discussions with Lieutenant General Vikum Liyanage on human rights and protestors in Sri Lanka.

The UK carefully considers all our engagement with the Sri Lankan Armed Forces, aiming to support the development of a modern, professional and human rights compliant military. Promoting adherence to international humanitarian law and human rights compliance is integral to this engagement. We continuously monitor the context and viability of our approach to ensure that assistance is in line with our values and is consistent with our human rights obligations.

The then Minister for South Asia, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, set out our concerns regarding human rights and security responses to peaceful protests when he spoke with President Wickremesinghe in July.