PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Sri Lanka: War Crimes (30 October 2019)

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the extent of the government of Sri Lanka's engagement with war crimes investigations; and what plans the Government has to refer cases of alleged war crimes in that country to to the International Criminal Court.

Asked by:
Sarah Champion (Labour)

The UK supports Sri Lanka’s accountability commitments to the UN Human Rights Council through resolutions 30/1, 34/1 and 40/1 as the best way to establish truth and to achieve justice, restitution and reconciliation. A national process, initiated by the Government of Sri Lanka and supported by all communities, offers the best route to achieve this. There have been important developments since 2015 and some key domestic institutions have been established, although the pace of progress has remained slow in many areas. In the most recent resolution, the Council encouraged Sri Lanka to set a clear timeline for action through a national implementation strategy.

Sri Lanka is not party to the Rome Statute, so the International Criminal Court (ICC) has no jurisdiction to investigate the situation in that country. The ICC could only exercise jurisdiction if the situation is referred to it by a UN Security Council Resolution, or if Sri Lanka accepts the Court’s jurisdiction. Our assessment is that this step would not have the support of the required Security Council members. Nor would it advance the cause of accountability for an ICC referral to fail to win Security Council support or to be vetoed. Sri Lanka has made commitments to the UNHRC, and we continue to look to them to deliver those commitments in full.

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Answered by:
Mrs Heather Wheeler (Conservative)
4 November 2019