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I am grateful for the opportunity to discuss the serious issue of human rights inSri
Lanka, with particular reference to the most recent session of the United Nations
Human Rights Council and progress against the resolution that was agreed
unanimously last year. I have taken a great interest in this issue since joining the
House last year as vice-chair of the all-party parliamentary group for Tamils, not least
because of the significant Tamil population in myconstituency, whose lives have been
directly affected by the atrocities of theSri Lankan civil war. I should also draw the
Houses attention to my entry in the Register of Members Financial Interests relating
to my visit to the UNHRC in Geneva last year to lobby for that resolution.
The hon. Gentleman is most gracious in giving wayI did ask his permission
beforehand. We should not forget the other human rights abuses that are happening
in Sri Lanka. The National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lankahas
documented an estimated 450 incidents against Christian minorities since 2009. Since
2015, 130 incidents of intimidation, discrimination and violence against Christians
have been recorded, and a campaign to close churches continues to this very day.
Although the war has ended, does the hon. Gentleman agree that we need assurances
from the UK Government and theMinister that they will do everything in their power
to ensure that Sri Lankamoves further towards religious freedom for all, not away
from it?
fear, for understandable reasons, among many people living in this country that things
will happen to them or to their relatives if they do return.
have wanted, the compromise was worth while, in binding the SriLankan Government
to that resolution. That is why we must make sure that it is delivered to the letter.
Although it should be acknowledged that some initial progress has been made, with
the release of civilian land and the establishment of an office of missing persons, the
update produced by the Human Rights Commissioner last month shows that there is
still much more progress to be made if the resolution is to be met and justice is to be
obtained. Much more needs to be done to speed up efforts to investigate missing
persons and to provide confidence to their families that the search is serious. The
UN working group on enforced or involuntary disappearances ranks Sri Lanka as the
country with the second highest number of disappearances in the history of its tenure,
The Sri Lankan Government must also do more to improve transparency and
communication in relation to their consultations, having promised to engage in broad
terms in national consultations and created a consultation taskforce on reconciliation
mechanisms in February 2016. Progress in this area has again been slow. The
taskforce has not yet begun regional consultations, which, given the nature of the
geography and the demography of Sri Lanka, are absolutely essential, and the UN
special rapporteur on transitional justice has criticised the process. Indeed, there are
many people in the diaspora, including those in my constituency and, I suspect, in
other constituencies, who want their voices to be heard and who also deserve to have
their say in the consultation process.
It is also worth noting that those consultations that have taken place, for example on
the creation of the Office for Missing Persons, have been short and their findings not
shared with the public. Instead, in this particular case, they were shared only with a
small number of civil society groups, which were given just two weeks to respond.
Given the gravity of the issues being discussed, that is wholly unsatisfactory.
The delay in the implementation of the UN Human Rights Council resolution has to
be addressed if confidence in the process is to be maintained. This afternoon, there are
three key areas to which I wish the Minister to respond. First, there is the issue of
international involvement in the prosecution of war crimes. Despite agreeing to
I hope that we will bring appropriate pressure to bear on the Sri Lankan Government
to reverse this stance and that we will work with the international community to
ensure that agreements are honoured. Will the Minister tell me what representations
the UK Government have made to the Sri Lankan Government on this issue, and what
steps our Government will take with our international partners to increase pressure in
this area? I know that the Minister is familiar with these issues. He has recently
returned from Sri Lankaand is optimistic about the progress that is being made, but he
must be firm with the Government of Sri Lanka and say that our bilateral relationship
would be damaged if they do not honour the commitments that were made at the UN
Human Rights Council, bearing in mind that the Prime Minister was heavily
criticised, particularly by Labour Members, when he chose to visit Sri Lanka as part
of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. He visited the north and met
the Tamil community. Although I had misgivings at the time, it is only fair to
acknowledge that the Prime Ministers visit did shine a spotlight on the issues and
helped us to apply pressure, but that visit will have been in vain if we do not see
progress. I hope that, before he leaves office, the Prime Minister can bring some
pressure to bear on the matter and that his successor will do the same.
I also want to raise the allegations of ongoing human rights abuses. It is simply
unacceptable that, despite agreeing to the UN Human Rights Council resolution and
the public statements made on this issue, we are still hearing about cases of torture,
illegal detention and sexual violence. Human rights organisations such as Amnesty
International, Human Rights Watch and the International Truth and Justice Project
in Sri Lanka have all raised concerns about recent abuses and a lack of progress in this
area. The charity, Freedom from Torture, has also produced evidence of the torture of
Tamils occurring in 2015, including after resolution 30/1 was passed. The all-party
parliamentary group for Tamils has not yet seen any evidence that these allegations
have been investigated.
More recently, we learned that VelauthapillaiRenukaruban, a British citizen of Tamil
descent who visited the country to get married, was beaten and imprisoned on false
charges. We must not allow British citizens to be treated in that way. Where these
abuses take place, we must use every bit of our diplomatic muscle to ensure that
British citizens are protectednever mind the fact that Tamil people who do not have
the British citizenship also deserve to go about their lives with dignity and freedom.
With those worrying cases in mind, will the Minister inform us of the action he is
taking to make it clear to his counterparts in the Sri Lankan Government that these
abuses cannot be allowed to continue? Will he also inform the House what funding
arrangements the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has in place to promote human
rights abroad and how much of those funds is spent on Sri Lanka and for what
purpose?
Many members of the Tamil community have raised with me the issue of deportations
from the United Kingdom to Sri Lanka. When a person reaches the United Kingdom
as an asylum seeker, we must do all we can to make sure that they are treated with
respect and dignity. It is clear that the UK Government must look again at their policy
in respect of Tamil asylum seekers. The ongoing human rights abuses and the
evidence of torture of political dissidents in Sri Lanka should be a wake-up call that
this issue must be treated with more seriousness than has been the case recently,
particularly by giving more weight to the risks to individuals.
With this in mind, will the Minister ensure that he has further discussions with
the Home Office to underline the dangers that people may face if they are returned
to Sri Lanka? Will he provide an update on policy in this area, given that the UN
Committee Against Torture expressed concerns about this issue nearly three years
ago, in 2013?
We in this House should not forget our duty to help those in need. We should
remember that this issue continues to affect the lives of people living in the UK and
around the world. Many of them have seen horrific acts of abuse take place against
friends and family or have been the victims of unspeakable crimes themselves.
Human rights, the rule of law and reconciliation must be given the full weight and
backing of the international community to force the Sri Lankan Government to speed
up their work in this area.
In this week, when the UK has had to reflect on the devastating impact of a
botched intervention in Iraq, it is worth reflecting on the consequences of failing to act
when human rights abuses occur. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that, during
the 26 years of the Sri Lankan civil war, as people were being brutalised and tortured
in the most appalling ways, the international community chose to look the other
way. The House must also reflect on our failure and this countrys failure in looking
the other way and failing to act when we arguably could and should have done more.
We cannot turn back the clock, but we can make sure today that we do not fail all the
peoples of Sri Lanka again in the future as we have done in the past. With that hope, I
hope that the Minister will rise to the Dispatch Box and assure us that the Government
will do all they can to ensure that truth justice and reconciliation lead to the bright
future for all the peoples of Sri Lanka that we all want to see.
We should not, however, underestimate the challenges of dealing with the legacy of a
30-year conflict. Foreign Minister Samaraweera said last week in Geneva:
Reconciliation does not happen overnight. It requires effort, hard work,
commitment, and careful, continuous, concrete action. It is a journey that
requires constant striving.
I wholeheartedly agree. We should remember that Sri Lanka has been on a remarkable
journey in the last 18 months, since President Sirisena was elected. The country is, I
believe, now in a far better place than anyone could have imagined.
I have spoken before about the striking differences between the Sri Lanka I saw
in November 2013 and the one I visited in January this year. The elections last August
were the most democratic in living memory, and resulted in the formation of a
national unity Government committed to reconciliation and peacebuilding. The
constitutional reform process Sri Lanka has now embarked on is an essential
foundation for the countrys future stabilitya foundation on which to build its
democracy, its development and its political reconciliation. The devolution of political
authority that the authorities are seeking to enshrine within that process will be crucial
for Sri Lankas long-term governance and prosperity.
The hon. Gentleman emphasised the need for Sri Lanka to make timely progress on its
commitments. At the Human Rights Council session on 29 June, the UK urged Sri
Lanka to deliver on those commitments, including by putting in place credible
transitional justice mechanisms underpinned by meaningful consultations and
effective witness protection. In that respect, we welcome the Governments
announcement that they will establish an Office of Missing Persons. We remain
committed to the full implementation of resolution 30/1, and we stand ready to
support the Sri Lankan Government to that end.
Although progress has been slower than we and many others had hoped, it has been
encouraging to see Sri Lankas renewed openness and engagement with the UN. We
welcomed Sri Lankas invitations to High Commissioner Zeid and various UN special
rapporteurs to visit and to discuss torture, disappearances, and the independence of
On land reforms, which the hon. Lady just raised, more land returns are essential, both
to build confidence and to allow the resettlement of displaced Tamils. I was
encouraged that a further 701 acres were released two weeks ago, and that
Foreign Minister Samaraweera has said that the Government have instructed the
military to release all land obtained from civilians by 2018. The British
Government are clear that land releases must be accompanied by adequate housing
and support for resettled communities. We continue to support de-mining
programmes, one of which I have seen, and housing and resettlement through our
contributions to multilateral agencies.
We will continue to encourage the Government of Sri Lanka to prioritise the reform of
their security sector, not least with the repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act. All
forms of sexual and gender-based violence and torture must be addressed. The
President has taken steps to address this and has issued guidance to all security forces
that emphasises the absolute prohibition of torture or other ill-treatment, including
sexual violence. The Government, with our assistance, are also putting in place
training programmes for the police and other measures aimed at combating and
eliminating torture. This includes addressing the need for the prosecution and
conviction of perpetrators.
There are other areas of concern. These include issues of freedom of speech and
movement, the remaining detainees held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and
the continued involvement of the military in commercial life in the north. Through
diplomatic pressure and targeted projects, we will continue to encourage the
Government to address these issues.
The hon. Member highlighted the issue of international involvement in the
prosecution of war crimes. The British Government have always been clear that any
accountability mechanism needs to be credible and meet international standards. We
therefore welcomed Sri Lankas co-sponsorship ofUNHRC resolution 30/1. We have
reiterated our commitment to its full implementation on a number of occasions, most
recently in Geneva last month.