UK parliament report slams Lanka, says HR situation hasn't improved

UK parliament report slams Lanka, says HR situation hasn't improved

Friday, October 18, 2013

The British House of Commons

The British House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, has in a very critical report, noted that there is scant evidence of progress in political and human rights in Sri Lanka.
Made up of House of Commons legislators, the report notes that as Prime Minister David Cameron remains committed to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka, he should obtain assurances from the Sri Lankan Government that people who approach him to talk about human rights while he is in Sri Lanka to attend the summit do not face reprisals or harassment by security forces.

re of migrants returned to Sri Lanka from the UK, and it does not re-iterate the Government’s view that there is no substantiated evidence of torture of such people. David Mepham, UK Director of Human Rights Watch, told us that he believed that this was significant and that it showed that the Government “cannot stand by” its view and had now recognised that the evidence put forward by Human Rights watch and others was “credible”. When we asked Baroness Warsi whether it was still the Government’s position that there were no substantiated allegations, she declined to give a direct answer. We find it unsatisfactory that the Government should now be silent on a matter of such significance. We recommend that the FCO, in its response to this report, state whether it still holds the view that there is no substantiated evidence of torture or maltreatment of people who have been returned by UK immigration authorities to Sri Lanka.

UK Parliament Report Slams Lanka, Says HR Situation Hasn't Improved by nelvely