Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to submit the despatches from the United Kingdom defence attaché in Colombo for the period June 2008 to June 2009 inclusive as evidence to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ Investigation on Sri Lanka.

The UK strongly supports the establishment of an independent Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) investigation on Sri Lanka, and, if requested to provide assistance, we will give such requests careful consideration. We continue to urge the Sri Lankan government to co-operate with the investigation in line with recent calls made by Zeid Al Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

In its 22 September oral update, the OHCHR stated “that a more fundamental and far-reaching accountability process in Sri Lanka, addressing both past and ongoing violations, is absolutely necessary for Sri Lankans to come to terms with their past, end impunity, achieve reconciliation between communities and strengthen the rule of law.” In March 2015, the OHCHR will provide a comprehensive report of the investigation to the UN Human Rights Council.