British Govt. Working To Set Up Sri Lanka Investigation With A Strong Implementation Mandate
February 11, 2014
Following a recent meeting with Hugo Swire MP Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; The All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPG t) represented by Lee Scott MP and Siobhain McDonagh MP (Vice Chair) hosted a meeting yesterday, at Parliament which was addressed by senior representatives from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in order to receive an update on the proposed resolution to the 25th UNHRC session in March.
British Prime Minister David Cameron
Issuing a statement the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils today said; ”Since Sri Lanka has not made any progress on a credible and transparent investigation, it was confirmed that the British Government is working with international partners to set up an Independent International Investigation in the island of Sri Lanka. The British Government feels that there is a good chance of passing this resolution with the support of the international partners. The UK is also working with NGOs and other like minded organisations towards this aim.
“It was also agreed that the substance of the resolution should have a strong mandate to implement the recommendations without any further delays, with witness protection for all the victims in order to serve justice and accountability for a long term sustainable peace in the Island.
“The Tamil Community brought up post resolution actions including travel bans and asset freezes for the Sri Lankan government representatives.
“APPG for Tamils is committed to working for the freedom and justice for Tamils and all the people in the Island of Sri Lanka.” Read More
Why David Cameron Is Not In Thrall To The Tamil Diaspora
By Dave Rush -February 11, 2014
Dave Rush
As international pressure builds in the lead up to the UN Human Rights Commission session in March that will discuss a third resolution on alleged war crimes and human rights abuses in Sri Lanka, column inches on the subject also multiply.
The most notable thing about the government’s response to this is how consistently it has trotted out the same arguments, and how rigidly it has stuck to tactics that have served it well domestically, but continue to fail in an international context.
As a Brit who lives in Sri Lanka, one of the most interesting sub-plots to follow has been the reaction the involvement of David Cameron and the UK government. But before examining that in a bit more detail, it’s worth taking a quick survey of some of the common counter-arguments the Sri Lankan authorities have made to criticism from around the world.
Smoke and mirrors
The most common of these is the notion that governments, NGOs, charities and research agencies around the globe are simply being deviously manipulated by a seemingly all powerful Tamil diaspora.
This argument takes several forms, but it can best be summed up as – there is a global Tamil conspiracy that is trying to destroy Sri Lanka’s international reputation by funding a global media smear campaign.
Around the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting, Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to the UK, Chris Nonis, told CNN that criticism of the country’s human rights record was a “proxy propaganda war” being carried out by those who funded the nation’s “terrorist conflict”, whilst Gotabaya Rajapaksa repeatedly invokes the spectre of an “LTTE rump” who are agitating from the shadows. Read More
