Sri Lanka

Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs written question – answered at on 17 December 2013.

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Photo of Kerry McCarthy Kerry McCarthy Shadow Minister (Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs)

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with which members of the UN Human Rights Council he has discussed the case for an independent, international inquiry into the Sri Lankan civil war; and what recent assessment he has made of the strength of international support for such an inquiry.

Photo of Hugo Swire Hugo Swire The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office

We regularly discuss Sri Lanka, including accountability and the need for progress on a credible transparent and independent investigation into alleged war crimes ahead of the March UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session in March 2014, with a range of other EU, Commonwealth and international partners. The UK has been voted back on to the UNHRC and will play an active role in building international support ahead of the March UNHRC session, where an assessment will be made of Sri Lankan progress to date. The UK previously co-sponsored the UN Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka in March 2013 which urged Sri Lanka to conduct an independent investigation into allegations of violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. We will coordinate closely with the members of the UNHRC to build support for an appropriate resolution on Sri Lanka.

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