The human rights situation in Sri Lanka in 2012 remained of serious concern, with a number of negative developments, including with regard to freedom of expression and media and judicial independence, the United Kingdom said.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague launched the “Human Rights and Democracy report for 2012” prepared by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, which documented UK’s action to raise standards and stamp out abuses occurring globally.
“Serious human rights violations including intimidation of human rights defenders continued in Sri Lanka in 2012 and reports of enforced disappearances continued in the year,” the report stated
Stating that there was no progress in the investigation into the 2011 disappearance of Frontline Socialist Party campaigners Lalith Kumar Weeraraj and Kugan Murugan in Jaffna, the report noted that no conclusive investigations into past incidents of right violations took place.
While noting that there were no reported killings of journalists in 2012, in contrast to previous years, the report concluded that there was no progress on investigations into the previous murders and disappearances of journalists, especially the killing of Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunga and the disappearance of cartoonist Prageeth Ekneliyagoda.
“We will do all we can to encourage Sri Lanka to demonstrate adherence to Commonwealth values of human rights, democracy and the rule of law, particularly ahead of Sri Lanka’s hosting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in November,” the report said..
Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)
