UK hopes Lanka attends summit
Britain hopes Sri Lanka will attend a summit in June which looks at preventing sexual violence in conflict situations.
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs William Hague told the British Parliament yesterday (Tuesday) that he is not able compel any Government to attend the summit but he has encouraged Sri Lanka to do so.
“I have invited the 143 nations that so far have endorsed the declaration that I launched on ending sexual violence to attend the summit in June, but I cannot force any of them to do so. However, given events in Sri Lanka in recent decades, it would be highly appropriate for the Sri Lankan Government to be there and to present their plans. I have encouraged them to do so,” he said.
Meanwhile Hague said the UK would not have succeeded in pushing for the resolution on Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council recently had it not been for the British Prime Minister’s leadership, Britain’s presence in Sri Lanka and the UK Government’s willingness to show how passionate they are about what happened in the north of Sri Lanka.
“The Opposition’s attitude of not going to Sri Lanka would have been a terrible misjudgment,” he said.
Meanwhile the Minister of State at the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office Hugo Swire, who also spoke in Parliament, said now that the international community has spoken through the United Nations Human Rights Council, it is important that the Government in Colombo listen to what has been said and what is asked of them.
The UN Human Rights Council had adopted a resolution calling for an international investigation into the war in Sri Lanka but the Government has maintained it will not comply with the resolution. (Colombo Gazette)
