Siva Parameswaran
The British government remains very elusive in taking a firm stand against alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Sri Lankan security forces during the brutal civil war.
Despite being a co-sponsor of a motion in the UN Human Rights Council calling upon the government of Sri Lanka to work with the UNHRC on accountability for alleged atrocities, the UK government has stopped short of committing itself to pressure the Sri Lankan government to do so and ensure justice the affected Tamils.
This was evident from the reply given by Foreign Secretary David Lammy to a group of select MPs while replying to a specific question by a Tamil-origin MP.
The UK was a signatory to the statement by the Sri Lanka Core Group, which included Canada, Malawi, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and the United States.
These nations welcomed the report of the UN Human Rights Commissioner on accountability for enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka which highlights longstanding impunity for human rights violations.
“We call on the government to engage with its recommendations to address the suffering caused by enforced disappearances and its impact on all communities” the statement by Rita French, Britain’s Global Ambassador for Human Rights and Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva on the 19th of June this year said.
Now the British government led by labour leader Sir Keith Starmer says they are looking at wide policy options with regard to the atrocities committed against the Tamils in Sri Lanka.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said this in an open forum in response to a query raised by a Sri Lankan Tamil-origin MP Uma Kumaran.
She was raising the query about accountability for alleged atrocities committed by the state security forces in Sri Lanka during the decades-long civil war, in particular the final phase.
“In 2023 you urged the then British government to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Tamils and consider the recommendation of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to refer perpetrators of atrocities to the International Criminal Court (ICC)”.
Adding further the Labour MP for Stratford and Bow since July 2024 while impressing the committee said the question is in relation to her government’s stand and international obligations.
In 2023 when the Labour Party was in the opposition, the present Prime Minister, as the Leader of the opposition questioned the Rishi Sunak-led Conservative government and urged it to consider the recommendations of the UNHRC, which Uma Kumaran MP recalled during the Foreign Affairs Select Committee session.
Sir Keith Starmer had then urged the Conservative government to support an international Justice mechanism for accountability for the alleged war crimes. Now that the Labour Party is in power and he is the Prime Minister, the Tamil-origin MP impressed upon him and the Foreign Secretary David Lammy to stand by what they said a year ago in 2023.
“I’m really pleased to say you are now the foreign secretary and he is now the Prime Minister can I ask you today to stand by your comments and refer them to the ICC”.
Replying to the demand of their party MP, Britain’s Foreign Secretary said, the UK government is engaging with the new Sri Lankan government headed by President Anura Kumara Dissanayaka.
“We’ve got a new government that’s just taken up in Sri Lanka and
it’s a government and the the signs are positive in relation to um the atrocities of the past and the human rights abuses of the past particularly”.
Commenting more on the query by Uma Kumaran, Secretary David Lammy said he and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth and Development Office, Catherine West are ‘engaging’ with the new government in Sri Lanka.
“It’s important that Minister West and I are able to engage with that new government we are looking at the range of policy in relation to the atrocities of the past”.
Secretary Lammy added he has spent a lot of time over the years with Tamil communities, particularly in the UK, and hence recognizes their strength and feeling.
In his oral reply to his party MP, he said the issues she raised are complex issues.
“You’ve raised these issues, they are complex issues nevertheless you know that goes back to the conflict where deep painful atrocities were committed and it’s important that those that did that are held to account”.
Sri Lanka under the Gotabaya Rajapaksa regime withdrew from the commitment given to the UN Human Rights Commission to cooperate with them on accountability which was agreed during the Maithripala Sirisena Presidency.
On May 17, 2024, the UN Sri Lanka Accountability Project published a report on enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka.
It found that in the 15 years since the end of the war, steps taken by the successive Sri Lankan government “have not resulted in tangible progress in realizing victims’ rights” and “there remains a real risk of recurrence”
The Sri Lanka Accountability Project by the UNHRC has granted the government time till September 2025 for its continuing evidence-gathering mechanism regarding accusations of Sri Lanka’s gross human rights violations, during its 57th session this year.
The resolution was adopted without a vote. War-affected Tamils have been urging the international community, in particular the UN to appoint a special rapporteur for Sri Lanka to study in detail the alleged atrocities and war crimes and report back to the international body.
However, that demand along with referring Sri Lanka to the ICC has not found favour with the UN, so far.
