Thirty-one members of the US Congress have written to Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, expressing their concern over Sri Lanka's lack of progress towards reconciliation and accountability, despite the resolution passed by the UNHRC earlier this year.
See here for letter in full, extracts reproduced:
"The resolution [UNHRC 19th Session] signaled an important step forward in placing additional pressure on the Government of Sri Lanka to implement constructive recommendations contained in the LLRC report, while also noting that the report failed to adequately address serious allegations of violations of international law."
"Despite these initial steps toward reconciliation and accountability, we remain concerned that the Government of Sri Lanka will resist taking the good faith steps necessary to implement both its obligations under the UNHRC Resolution and the LLRC report."
"To add to these concerns, the 'National Action Plan to Implement the Recommendations of the LLRC' released by the Government of Sri Lanka in July merely sets up further committees and organizational bodies to 'consider' the LLRC recommendations, but does not mandate that specific actions be taken on even easily accomplishable recommendations, nor does it set firm timetables of any kind. Without persistent US involvement, we fear these delay tactics will continue."
"Thus far, there is no indication that the UNHRC resolution has had any significant impact on the Sri Lankan government's response to the issue. We believe that the State Department must ensure that its diplomatic efforts yield fruitful and meaningful results via further US action and engagement on reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka. With the impending evaluation of Sri Lanka's compliance with the UNHRC resolution in March 2013, there is an added sense of urgency to this request. It would be all too easy for the Rajapaksa administration to make excuses for failing to adhere to its obligations at next HRC session without strong oversight from the State Department."
