Britain will be playing an 'an active role in building international support' for action on Sri Lanka at the March 2014 session of the UN Human Rights Council said the UK's Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on Wednesday.
Responding to a question on the UK setting up an international inquiry into war crimes allegations, Hugo Swire, who recently took on the role from Alistair Burt, stated,
“The Prime Minister was clear with the Sri Lankan President at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo in November that we expect real progress on human rights, reconciliation, accountability, and political settlement. The Human Rights Council will assess progress in March”."In particular, the Prime Minister pressed for credible, transparent and independent investigations into alleged war crimes and made clear that if these investigations have not begun properly by March, then we will use our position on the UN Human Rights Council to work with the UN Human Rights Commissioner and call for an international inquiry."
"The UK has been voted back on to the Human Rights Council and will play an active role in building international support ahead of the March Human Rights Council session. We will continue to discuss Sri Lanka with a range of other EU, Commonwealth and international partners over the coming months."
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