Sri Lanka will be considered by the UNHRC in March 2014, where we will urge council members to support our call for an international investigation, if Sri Lanka does not establish a credible domestic process. The UK sees accountability for alleged war crimes, respect for human rights, and a political settlement as essential elements of post-conflict reconciliation. The Foreign Secretary and Mr Swire met a wide range of Sri Lankan civil society actors and human rights defenders (HRDs). He was accompanied to Jaffna by media organisations such as BBC, ITV, Sky and Channel 4, which contributed to increased scrutiny during CHOGM on human rights and the lack of progress made on accountability in Sri Lanka. The Prime Minister became the first foreign head of government to visit the Northern Province since Sri Lanka’s independence in 1948. During his visit, the Prime Minister said that the UK would use its position in the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to support the call by Navi Pillay to establish an independent international investigation into allegations of violations and abuses of international humanitarian and human rights law during the military conflict, if Sri Lanka failed to set up a credible, transparent and independent domestic process by March 2014. In November 2013, Sri Lanka hosted the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which was attended by the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary, and Minister for Sri Lanka, Hugo Swire. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, visited Sri Lanka in August and, while recognizing much progress, noted continued human rights violations and signs that the government was heading in an “increasingly authoritarian direction”. The impeachment of the Chief Justice exacerbated concerns about a culture of impunity, and the extent to which the independence of some institutions had been eroded. Attacks against journalists continued, and Sri Lanka fell in independent indices on press freedom and women’s rights. Although progress continued on post-conflict issues, such as re-building of infrastructure, and elections took place for the first time in the north of the country, the overall trend was negative in many respects. The human rights situation in Sri Lanka was of serious concern in 2013.
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