Wes Streeting – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Wes Streeting on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the President of Sri Lanka on (a) the implementation of UN Human Rights Council resolution 30/1 and (b) the involvement of foreign judges and prosecutors in the investigation and prosecution of war crimes during the Sri Lankan civil war since the last ministerial visit to Sri Lanka.

Mr Hugo Swire

We regularly discuss progress and developments in Sri Lanka with the government, including on UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution 30/1. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) did so when he met President Sirisena on 12 May and our High Commissioner to Sri Lanka did so on 10 May. I also discussed this with the Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and Foreign Minister Samaraweera when I visited Sri Lanka in January. We encourage the government to implement fully its commitments to the UNHRC resolution on reconciliation, accountability and human rights, and look forward to the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ assessment of Sri Lanka’s progress in June.