Looking forward to execute Reparations Office: Mark Field

UK Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific, Mark Field said he was pleased to see Sri Lanka passing a bill to establish an Office for Reparations and that he was looking forward to seeing this implemented in the near future.

He expressed these views in UK Parliament on Tuesday responding to MP Richard Burden who asked what recent assessment the State Minister has made of progress on Sri Lankan adherence to measures outlined in UN resolutions.

State Minister Field said the UK continues to encourage and support Sri Lanka to deliver the commitments it made to the UN Human Rights Council through Resolutions 30/1 and 34/1.

“We firmly believe that this is the best framework for establishing truth and to achieve justice and lasting reconciliation. The UK welcomed the Annual Report of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on 21 March 2018, which assessed progress made by the Sri Lankan

State Minister Field said the UK continues to encourage and support Sri Lanka to deliver the commitments it made to the UN Human Rights Council

government in the implementation of UN Human Rights Council Resolutions 30/1 and 34/1. This found that Sri Lanka had taken some steps to address human rights concerns and to introduce more democratic and accountable government,” he said.

“However, as I made clear to Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana last year, more needs to be done. During my visit, I encouraged greater progress, in particular on national accountability and truth-seeking mechanisms, and the development of new counterterrorism legislation in line with international human rights standards. continued to press for progress with Sri Lankan Speaker Karu Jayasuriya in January,” he said.