An influential group of MPs has criticised the British government for its approach with Sri Lanka and its stance during the allocation of the 2013 Commonwealth heads of Government Meeting.
The House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee slammed the UK’s “timid” and “inconsistent” approach on Sri Lanka in a report, and said the government could and should have taken a more principled stand.
“On the information available to us, the policy followed by the FCO during discussions at the 2009 Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Port of Spain on venues for future Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings seems to have been inconsistent,” the report said.
“The FCO objected to a proposal that Sri Lanka might host the 2011 CHOGM on human rights grounds but did not obstruct a proposal that it might do so in 2013; nor did it insist that Sri Lanka’s right to host in 2013 should be conditional on improvements in human rights. That approach now appears timid. The UK could and should have taken a more principled stand in 2009, and should have taken a more robust stand after the 2011 CHOGM in the light of the continuing serious human rights abuses in Sri Lanka.”
Human Rights Watch, Freedom from torture and Amnesty International were also consulted for the report, which also criticised the deportation policy on Tamil asylum seekers, some of who were tortured on return.
“We asked witnesses from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch for their views on the Government’s decision to attend. Kate Allen, Director of Amnesty International (UK), said that “we very much regret that decision”,18 and David Mepham, UK Director of Human Rights Watch, regretted that the Government had decided to attend at prime ministerial level,” the report said.
Richard Ottoway, chairman of the committee told Channel 4 News:
"Clearly the British government wasn't happy about it, but clearly a decision was being made here and we either become a paid up member of the 'awkward squad' - in the minority of one or two - or we go along with it.
"And they went along with it. Frankly, we think they should have been in the awkward squad minority."
The Foreign Office has rejected the accusations in a statement.
“We share the Foreign Affairs Select Committee's (FAC) wish to see substantial and sustainable improvements in human rights in Sri Lanka. However, we do not agree with the FAC's assessment of the FCO as 'timid and inconsistent' on this issue.
"The FCO has consistently pursued progress in Sri Lanka on human rights through high-level bilateral lobbying, support for local and international non-governmental organisations on the ground and internationally through the EU and Human Rights Council.”