Responding to a question posed by the Shadow Minister for Northern Ireland, Tonia Antoniazzi, Minister of State at the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, Amanda Milling, noted the government’s “serious concern” over sexual violence in Sri Lanka and reaffirmed its commitment to UNHRC resolution 46/1.
The Shadow Minister’s question concerned the government’s response to the International Truth and Justice Project report which detailed torture and sexual violence by Sri Lankan security forces.
The report contains the testimonies of 15 Tamils abducted, detained and tortured by Sri Lanka security forces since Gotabaya Rajapaksa took office as Sri Lanka's president in 2019. The witnesses have now fled the island and reside in the UK.
"The victims being detained now are generally young and of little intelligence value to the security forces, who appear to be mounting a campaign of repression against legitimate Tamil expression of fundamental rights including protests or calls for accountability," the report stated.
Read more here: New ITJP report documents ongoing abduction, torture and rape of Tamils in the North-East
She asked in response to this report’s findings, “what steps her Department is taking to support the Tamil population of Sri Lanka; and what steps her Department is taking in response to the recommendations for UN member states in that report”.
Milling’s responded that the UK Government took the allegations “very seriously” and highlighted that in Lord Ahmad’s recent visit to Sri Lanka “he raised serious concerns around the deteriorating human rights situation when he met the President, Foreign Minister, and other members of the Sri Lankan Government”.
Read more here: Trade, climate and human rights – Britain’s South Asia Minister tours Tamil homeland
She also noted the meeting between Britain’s Foreign Secretary and Sri Lanka’s counterpart where this was also reportedly raised.
Read more here: 'Simply appalling' - British MPs slam meeting between UK and Sri Lanka Foreign Ministers
Detailing the steps Britain was taking, Millings stated:
“We will continue to support the monitoring of the human rights situation and accountability in Sri Lanka by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) as mandated by the UN Human Rights Council resolution 46/1 on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka”.
The ITJP report has called on UN members to tackle structural impunity on the island stating:
"It should be noted that the lack of accountability encourages the repetition of crimes, as perpetrators and others feel free to commit further offences without fear of punishment. This ongoing impunity in Sri Lanka for those responsible for violations amounting to serious human rights violations inflicts additional suffering on victims".
It further calls for targeted sanctions such as asset freezes and travel bans on perpetrators of human rights abuses as well as applying "stringent vetting procedures" for Sri Lankan police and military personnel for military exchanges and training programmes.
To this day the British government has not imposed sanctions on any senior Sri Lankan military or government figure implicated in war crimes.
Read the full exchange here.