On 13 July there was an Urgent Question in the House of Commons on the state of emergency declared in Sri Lanka. Stephen argued that, as a condition of the medium term support Sri Lanka will need following its economic collapse, it must be required to meet its obligations under the resolutions of the UN Human Rights Council.
In February 2020, Sri Lanka withdrew from UN Human Rights Council (HCR) resolutions on reconciliation and human rights issues following the civil war. The situation in Sri Lanka was assessed by the UN HRC in March 2021, where a new resolution was adopting mandating the council to collect and preserve information and evidence of crimes relating to the civil war.
Over the past few months, Sri Lanka has suffered from fuel, food and medicine shortages and thousands have protested in the street. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was appointed acting president by the outgoing leader, Gotabaya Rajapaksa. A state of emergency has since been declared in the country and a new President has been appointed.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Stephen said that, in 2013, “… the UK with Sri Lanka jointly moved a resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council setting out a mechanism for resolving the legacy of the issues we have heard about today. Sri Lanka has largely ignored its obligations under that resolution.”
You can watch Stephen’s full question, and the Minister’s response, below.