The British Government stated that it will use its place on the UN Human Rights Council to call for an international investigation on Sri Lanka if no progress is made by the time an assessment is made at the UNHRC in March 2014.
The UK Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office Hugo Swire said that the UK has been voted back on to the UNHRC and will play an active role in building international support ahead of the March UNHRC session, where an assessment will be made of Sri Lankan progress to date.
He stated that Prime Minister David Cameron had called on the Sri Lankan government to make real progress on a “credible and transparent, independent investigation into allegations of violations of humanitarian and human rights law during the military conflict” while adding that the Prime Minister made it clear that the UK will use its seat on the UNHRC to call for an international investigation.
He added that the Sri Lankan issue is discussed frequently with other European Union, Commonwealth and international partners with focus on issues of accountability and the need for progress on a credible, transparent and independent investigation into alleged war crimes.
“The UK previously co-sponsored the UN Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka in March 2013 which urged Sri Lanka to conduct an independent investigation into allegations of violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. We will coordinate closely with the members of the UNHRC to build support for an appropriate resolution on Sri Lanka. We have urged the Sri Lankan Government to ensure that a credible, transparent and independent investigation into alleged war crimes has begun properly by March 2014. We have made clear that any investigation must be internationally accepted to be considered credible”, he stated.
Swire also added that the UK share the concerns of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, that there have been no credible efforts to independently investigate the allegations to date.
