Sri Lanka: Human Rights

Lyn Brown
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the likely effect on the observance of human rights in Sri Lanka of the end of the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission; and if he will make a statement.

Dr. Howells
We regret and are very concerned at the departure from the country of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, following the abrogation of the 2002 Cease-Fire Agreement by the Sri Lankan Government. My noble Friend the Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN, the right hon. Lord Malloch-Brown, paid tribute to their effort in his statement of 4 January, available on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website at:

http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Patge&cid=1007029391629&a=KArticle&aid=1199197354598%20&year=2008&month=2008-01-01&date=2008-01-04

The departure of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission can only add to the case for an expanded presence and mandate in Sri Lanka for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.