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UK ‘not at all happy’ with Sri Lanka’s dismissal of UN investigation

The United Kingdom has condemned Sri Lanka’s continued refusal to co-operate with a United Nations investigation into mass atrocities, during a debate in the House of Lords on Monday.

Responding to a question on the refusal of the Sri Lankan authorities to grant visas to the United Nations team which was to investigate the atrocities committed, Lord Wallace of Saltaire, Government Whip acting as government spokesperson on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, said,

“My Lords, the UK was a sponsor of the resolution of the UN Human Rights Council. We are actively concerned in this issue. We are not at all happy about the refusal of the Sri Lankan authorities to co-operate with the attempts to have an external inquiry, because of our concerns that the internal inquiry’s recommendations have not yet been implemented”.

Lord Wallace went on to say that the UK has “actively made our position clear to the Sri Lankan Government and will continue to do so.”

Lord Wallace also noted the recent statement by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, adding that “he is not receiving the co-operation which he needs from the Sri Lankan Government”.

The High Commissioner had earlier slammed Sri Lanka stating it had gone to “extraordinary lengths to sabotage” the investigation.

See our earlier post: UN Human Rights Chief blasts Sri Lanka's ‘extraordinary lengths to sabotage’ inquiry (07 November 2014)

Lord Naseby, who was described by the Daily Telegraph's chief political commentator Peter Oborneas “an apologist for the Sri Lankan government”, questioned Lord Wallace on the UK’s ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and asked whether the British government would be taking action against the commemoration of Maaveerar Naal in London later this week.

In response, Lord Wallace replied,

“My Lords, I would be surprised if the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police is not already aware of it”.

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