British MP and Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPGT), Elliot Colburn, has written to the UN Human Rights Committee to urge the committee to question the attendance of Maj. General Kulatunga during its 6th-period review and noted his role in overseeing the Joseph Camp in Vavuniya.
“From 7 Nov 2016 - 27 July 2017, Kulatunga was the commander at Joseph Camp (SFHQ[1]W), where repeated accounts of torture and sexual violence throughout the armed conflict in Sri Lanka were reported” Colburn states.
“The inclusion of alleged human rights perpetrators at UN meetings is not something that should go unnoticed” he adds.
In his letter, Colburn also notes that several victims of torture at Joseph Camp during this period have since sought refuge in the UK and that Kulatunga’s inclusion as a representative of Sri Lanka has “caused outrage”.
Colburn concludes his letter urging “the committee to question Kulatunga about his role at Joseph Camp, similar to when Kulatunga’s predecessor, Sisira Mendis, was questioned at the UN Committee Against Torture in 2016”.
Read more here: Sri Lankan war criminal to represent country at the UNHCR
Read the full letter here.
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