“We have seen some great successes at the Human Rights Council over the past year, and I am delighted with the achievements of the latest session that the UK has worked hard to secure.”

“I also welcome the outcome of the vote on the Sri Lanka resolution. This underlines the importance that governments across the world attach to supporting lasting peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka. We urge the Sri Lankan Government to take the necessary steps to implement the recommendations of their Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission as soon as possible.”

“The UK will continue to work with our international partners on these and other issues, to support the work of the Council and ensure that those who are responsible for human rights violations and abuses are held to account by the international community.”

“As a man from the south I will fight against any move to betray the country. If I threatened to break limbs I must say that breaking limbs was a lesser punishment when compared to those that existed during the time of ancient kings.”

“I will not allow the individuals who depend on dollars of the foreigners and do their dirty work to ruin the Sinhala community. President Mahinda Rajapakse saved the country from terrorism through a humanitarian operation when many other government’s succumbed to the pressure of terrorist movements and granted their demands.”

The All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPGT) has welcomed the UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka in a statement released on Tuesday.

Several members of the APPGT, from the ruling coalition and the opposition Labour Party, attended the 19th UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, including Siobhain McDonough MP, Tom Brake MP and John Mann MP.

Full text of statement:

"APPGT welcome the United Nations Human Rights Council on successfully adopting a resolution on Sri Lanka. We see this as a first step towards an international effort to bring sustainable peace in the Island.

"The session was attended by representatives of APPGT – Lee Scott MP Ilford North Chair; Siobhain McDonough MP Mitcham and Morden Vice Chair; Tom Brake MP Carshalton and Wallington and John Mann MP Bassetlaw.

"All the MPs took part in several meetings with delegates from several countries outlining the situation and conveying the requirement for supporting the resolution.

"We have watched the most harrowing footages of War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity on Channel 4’s documentary last week titled “Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields: War Crimes Unpunished”. The documentary presents a basis for an investigation and the subsequent prosecution of those responsible for these heinous crimes.

"Accountability is paramount for any long-term sustainable political solution in Sri Lanka. An International independent investigation into War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity committed during the final stages of the war in Sri Lanka in 2009 is essential for this.

"The All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils wants to send a strong message to those who intimidated and threatened the members of NGOs undertaking human rights activities in the very council and we will take this up as one of our highest priorities.

"We would like to thank the mission from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for their support and help during our visit to the United Nations Human Rights Council sessions."

Statement from Ken Livingstone, the opposition Labour party’s candidate for Mayor of London (March 27):

 “I welcome the resolution passed on 22nd March at the UN Human Rights Commission calling on Sri Lanka to take credible action towards genuine reconciliation. The terrible crimes committed by the Sri Lankan military against Tamil civilians during the final stages of the war are now undeniable. These crimes along with Sri Lanka’s ongoing pattern of abuse directed at the Tamil population warrant the label of genocide.

“[The UNHRC] resolution is a first but still important step in the process of establishing a truly independent and international investigation of Sri Lanka’s conduct.

“From my long association with the Tamil community it is clear to me that the situation in Sri Lanka has not improved. Almost three years after the war ended the Sri Lankan military’s occupation of the Tamil speaking areas persists. Human rights abuses continue unabated and Tamils are still refused the opportunity to rebuild their shattered lives. I share the Tamil community’s hope that the international community will now move swiftly to hold Sri Lanka to account for its past and present behaviour.

“The Tamil community has added greatly to London’s cultural and economic life. Along with the many small businesses, Tamils working across the public and private sectors make an important contribution to the economy. The Tamil community’s traditions of music and dance as well as the many temple festivals celebrated across the city have also enriched London’s cultural life. I pledge my continued support as they take forward their efforts to ensure a just and dignified peace for the Tamil people of Sri Lanka.”

Statement by Boris Johnson, London’s Mayor (Conservative Party) on March 23:

“I have been following the desperate situation in Sri Lanka with concern for some time. In light of last year’s Channel 4 documentary ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ and the follow-up film broadcast last night, I would like to offer my continued support and condolences to all those affected by the conflict, including British Tamils.

“London is home to tens of thousands of British Tamils, who are an integral part of our community in London and around the country. Their contribution to life in the capital, particularly through business creation, food and music is greatly valued by all of us.

“We stand by our fellow Londoners as they continue to mourn the loved ones they tragically lost during the last days of fighting in northern Sri Lanka.”

As the England cricket team commences its 2012 tour of Sri Lanka, the Tamil Youth Organisation UK (TYO UK) and the undersigned UK university Tamil societies continue to call on the England and Wales Cricket Board to suspend all bilateral arrangements with Sri Lanka's national cricket team until there has been meaningful progress on ensuring accountability and justice for war crimes and crimes against humanity. We call for an immediate end to the on-going human rights violations being committed by the Sri Lankan Government and its security forces in the North-East of the island.

Almost three years after the end of the armed conflict, and a year since we first called for a boycott of Sri Lankan cricket - in line with wider trade sanctions, and economic isolation as a means to urging Sri Lanka to act - there has been no significant progress on human rights or accountability. Instead, the time and space afforded to Sri Lanka by the international community, in the name of development, reconciliation and international engagement, have led to an ever increasing and brazen disregard for human rights by the Sri Lankan state and fiercer attempts to prevent accountability and justice.

Instead of repealing emergency laws, scaling down the military, and working to protect and safeguard individual rights and freedoms, the Sri Lankan state has been emboldened by the international community’s continued sanctioning of impunity. It is pursuing an agenda of increased militarisation and colonisation of the Tamil areas, as well as widespread, and systematic human rights abuses. Reports published by international human rights organisations over the past year, have detailed evidence of on-going human rights violations against Tamil civilians in the North-East of the island, including abduction, illegal detention, torture, the torture of asylum seekers deported from the UK, extra-judicial killings, sexual violence, and the relentless clamp down on media freedom.

Sri Lanka’s on-going disregard for human rights is against a back drop of impunity. Three years post-conflict the credible allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity, resulting in the deaths of at least 40,000 Tamil civilians as detailed within a UN Panel of Experts report, remain unaccounted for. The past year has seen nothing but the failure of Sri Lanka’s internal inquiry and continued indignant resistance towards an independent process.

The Sri Lankan government’s attempt to stave off international demands for justice and accountability, the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), published its findings at the end of 2010. However, the LLRC has been rejected by leading human rights organisations, such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Crisis Group, as lacking the necessary mandate, impartiality and expertise (a criticism detailed in the LLRC’s own report). Indeed when the LLRC’s report was finally released last year, it simply absolved the military and the government from any wrongdoing, failing to address credible allegations made by the UN Panel of Experts.

Not only has the Sri Lankan government proved itself unable to provide the victims with justice, but it continues to exhibit itself as unwilling to do so. Despite having had the necessary time and space, the government has failed to implement the recommendations of its own commission. The government’s insincerity was illustrated in its indignant resistance to a resolution recently passed at the 19th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, asking Sri Lanka to merely implement its very own recommendations and detail a suitable timeframe in which to do so.

It is at this juncture, after another year of impunity, ineptitude and human rights violations, that we once again urge Britain to fulfil its duty and send a clear political message to Sri Lanka. The magnitude and gravity of Sri Lanka’s crimes, and on-going unrestrained violations of human rights, necessitate decisive action, and a strong and principled stance by the UK government and the England and Wales Cricket Board.

Last year the Minister for Sports and Olympics, Hugh Robertson MP, rejected calls by the TYO UK to suspend all sporting ties with Sri Lanka. Mr Robertson expressed faith in the Sri Lankan government to exhibit ‘fully inclusive progress which addresses the underlying causes of conflict’ and the possible reconciliatory effects of sport. Whilst we in principle share this belief, in the case of Sri Lanka the cricket team is used as a cynical tool to whitewash the image of the country on the international stage, allowing the government to continue to act with impunity. The past year only stands to vindicate this.

Dogged by allegations of corruption and institutional racism for many years, the Sri Lankan cricket board is now inseparable from the Sri Lankan state after elections to the board in November were marred by government intervention and the withdrawal of several candidates due to political pressure. The Sri Lankan cricket team which toured the UK last year, included an aging government minister who was widely believed to have been selected due to his political sway, rather than current sporting prowess. Meanwhile, the very military which stands accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity has been charged with the maintenance and running of three of the largest cricket stadiums in Sri Lanka.

In the case of Sri Lanka, sport, along with arts, trade, and tourism, is inseparable from politics. Another year of cricket with Sri Lanka’s national team, is at best another year of apathy, and at worst, another year of sanctioning impunity.

The England cricket team must take a principled stand in defence of human rights and justice, suspending all bilateral engagements with Sri Lanka and boycott the ICC Twenty20 world cup, which is to be played in Sri Lanka later this year. The shunning of the country’s sports teams, in conjunction with economic sanctions and political isolation, such as a proposed boycott of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting due to be held in Sri Lanka next year, will send a clear message of international abhorrence at the government’s conduct. Continuing links, be they trade or sport, lend the government greater legitimacy and effectively endorse its failure to cease its violations of human rights.

We request the UK government to reconsider its stance and take meaningful action by suspending all sporting ties with Sri Lanka and calling for an international independent investigation into the credible allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

	Tamil Youth Organisation UK
	Brunel University Tamil Society
	City University Tamil Society
	University of Hertfordshire Tamil Society
	International Tamil Society Imperial College London
	King's College London Tamil Society
	University of Nottingham Tamil Society
	Queen Mary University of London Tamil Society
	International Tamil Society St George's, University of London
	University College London Tamil Society

[Updated with further comments]

Sri Lanka on Monday made it clear that it will not abide by the United Nations Human Rights Council resolution last week that censured it over its rights abuses and said it would only implement "feasible" recommendations of its own panel that probed the bloody civil war.

See reports by Rediff and AFP.

“We had taken a decision not to abide by the resolution irrespective of the result", External Affairs Minister G L Peiris told reporters.

“We would treat it as an interference in the sovereignty of the country.”

“We oppose it. It internationalises Sri Lanka’s situation. It takes away the sovereign rights of the people.”

There would be no international consequences, he added, as "This is no (UN) Security Council decision."

“There will be no duress, no coercion of any kind. It’s a non-binding resolution. There are no economic sanctions.”

Peiris also said that Sri Lanka felt that no reply is needed to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's recent letter to President Mahinda Rajapaksa explaining why Delhi supported the UNHRC resolution.

Peiris’ comments were echoed Irrigation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, who said the government would only implement those recommendations of the LLRC (Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Committee) it accepted.

“The government will have to carefully consider the content of the [LLRC] report and take a decision as to which part of the report has to be implemented,” the Associated Press quoted him as saying.

In certain areas, the report “has gone beyond the mandate of the LLRC,” he said at a news conference with six government ministers. He refused to elaborate.

“We would implement only what we accept and consider feasible,” The Island quoted him as saying.  

“The concession to reduce crude oil imports only by 15 per cent was a result of the appeal made to the US earlier.”

Source Central Bank, published in The Island

Textiles exporters hoping the fall of Sri Lanka's rupee would drive a boom this year are set to be disappointed as a resulting rise in costs of imported materials undermines margins, Reuters quoted the state-run Export Development Board (EDB) as saying Wednesday.

The rupee hit a record low of 131.60 per dollar last Monday, a drop of 14 per cent since the central bank last month opted out of an intervention method that cost it $2.7 billion in the second half of 2011.

Firms have been calling for years for a weaker currency to help them compete with other low-cost Asian producers.

But the majority of Sri Lanka’s exports like garments are based on imports.

Because of the depreciation, the cost of imports will go up and the margins on exports will come down, EDB Chairman Janaka Ratnayake told Reuters.

After garment and tea exports drove a 22 percent rise in exports last year, officials had targeted a similar gain this year that would drive exports above $13 billion.

That target was now increasingly challenging, Ratnayake said.

The Tamil National Alliance has welcomed the passing of the US-sponsored resolution at the 19th session of the UN Human Rights Council.

Full text follows:

"We believe that the Resolution will benefit all Sri Lankans, regardless of ethnicity. We sincerely hope that the Resolution and the clear collective will of the Council will encourage the government to face the future with fortitude and move decisively to protect human rights and take tangible action to advance genuine reconciliation,

"The need for substantial progress in human rights protection, genuine and meaningful reconciliation and accountability are deep-felt needs of all citizens of the country. We therefore urge the government to avail itself of the opportunity provided by the Resolution of the Human Rights Council and dedicate itself to serving these urgent needs as provided for in the resolution.

"The TNA strongly believes that this Resolution is a first step in the pursuit of justice and accountability and sincerely thanks all countries, organizations and institutions that demonstrated a firm commitment to the achievement of a future for the Tamil community in Sri Lanka that is marked by equality, dignity, justice and self-respect.

"The TNA will, on behalf of the Tamil people, work with commitment and dedication towards the advancement of these goals."