Britain's Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth, Lord Tariq Ahmad, has raised concerns with Sri Lanka’s foreign minister, Dinesh Gunawardena, over Sri Lanka’s continued policy of forced cremations and inability to deliver justice and accountability.
On Twitter, Lord Ahmad stated:
The UK & Sri Lanka are collaborating on climate change & trade. In my call with @DCRGunawardena today, I also raised concerns ahead of the upcoming @UN Human Rights Council, including the impact of forced cremations of #COVID19 victims on faith groups + justice & accountability.
— Lord (Tariq)Ahmad of Wimbledon (@tariqahmadbt) January 22, 2021
This comes ahead of a United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session in March. There have been increasing calls for Sri Lanka to be referred to the International Criminal Court and for there to be an international mechanism to monitor Sri Lanka and hold human rights abusers accountable.
Ahmad has further stated that the UK will continue to collaborate with Sri Lanka on issues of climate change and trade. In August 2020, it was revealed that the UK provided military training to 17, out of 30, countries on the British Foreign Office’s own human rights watch list, which includes Sri Lanka, from 2018-2020.
According to the British Foreign Office, this list comprises countries where the UK has “particularly concerned about human rights issues”. UK ministers have admitted to providing training to the majority of countries on this list.
Read more here.
