British parliament team begins Lanka visit

Drawing international attention: President Mahinda Rajapakse

IANS/Colombo

A British parliament delegation began a week-long visit to Sri Lanka yesterday amidst concerns being raised in Britain over human rights issues in Sri Lanka.

The British all-party delegation will visit the north of the country which suffered the brunt of the 30-year war between the army and the Tamil Tiger rebels, British parliamentarian Simon Danczuk, who is part of the delegation, said.

He said that the delegation will also have talks with government and opposition members in the country as well as civil society members.

The MP said that a meeting has also been scheduled with President Mahinda Rajapakse but the meeting is yet to be confirmed.

Last week Britain issued a virtual ultimatum to the Sri Lankan government saying if there is insufficient progress on Sri Lanka’s own commitments on addressing human rights related issues Britain will look for a strong and unified response at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva.

British Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Alistair Burt informed the British House of Commons last week that Britain continues to raise concerns about lack of progress on post-conflict reconciliation, accountability, and the current human rights situation with the Sri Lankan government.

“We have been clear that we expect progress in both these areas and also access by media and civil society to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), as well as free, fair and peaceful Northern Provincial Council elections in September,” he said.

Burt said that in attending CHOGM, the British prime minister and the foreign secretary will see the situation on the ground, speak with the government of Sri Lanka, and draw international attention to either progress made or the lack of it.

On Friday, European parliamentarians asked Sri Lanka to deliver on promises to investigate allegations of war crimes and ensure ethnic reconciliation more than four years after crushing Tamil separatists.

A delegation of EU lawmakers requested Colombo ensure accountability in the face of what the UN calls “credible allegations” of up to 40,000 civilians killed in the final battles in 2009.

“On issues around accountability, we need to see more progress,” the delegation head, Britain’s Jean Lambert, had told reporters in Colombo.

She said they wanted Sri Lanka to implement recommendations of its own domestic war probe which called for independent investigations into alleged rights abuses.

Sri Lanka has resisted pressure for an international probe into war crimes and maintained its forces did not kill civilians while battling Tigers who were known for suicide bombings.

Both sides have been accused of rights violations, with campaign groups alleging indiscriminate army shelling and condemning the Tigers for using civilians as human shields.