Former British cabinet minister Lord Tebbit has told the UK government to concentrate on dealing more effectively with domestic problems and stop "going on about" issues in foreign countries outside of its control.At question time in the House of Lords, Tory Lord Tebbit criticised peers for discussing what action could be taken to force an inquiry into atrocities committed at the end of Sri Lanka's civil war in 2009.
The topic had been raised by Labour's Lord Kennedy of Southwark.
Lord Tebbit pointed out that "the government has no jurisdiction over Sri Lanka".
He added: "There are many awful things happening all over the world.
"It might be more appropriate if the government dealt more effectively with those things which are going wrong within its jurisdiction rather than to go on endlessly, as other noble lords do too, about matters which are outside the government's jurisdiction."
Foreign Office Minister Lord Howell replied that he could see the "theoretical and perfect logic" of Lord Tebbit's argument.
But he said: "The facts are there are large populations in London and in this country who are intimately politically concerned about this issue and if it goes badly wrong it affects us all in our domestic arrangements as well."
He continued: "If that wonderful country of Sri Lanka continues to be deeply divided and is not able to heal the wounds of the past that will affect us directly and our interests in a very precise way regardless of whether we are juridically in charge or not."
Sri Lanka's civil war ended in 2009, as the Colombo government claimed victory over Tamil Tiger insurgents after a bloody military operation which killed thousands of people and displaced many more.
A panel of experts convened by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon reported earlier this year that it had found "credible allegations" of war crimes on both sides. He said that a civilian death toll of 40,000 or more could not be ruled out.
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Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-priority:99;mso-style-qformat:yes;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;mso-para-margin-top:0in;mso-para-margin-right:0in;mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-para-margin-left:0in;line-height:115%;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} The SriLanka government and the United Nations have launched a pilot project ineastern Sri Lanka to issue death certificates for those missing for a longperiod. The ministry of National Languages andIntegration together with the UNDP is currently conducting a mobile service inChenkalady, Batticaloa. UNDP project officer in charge ofthe initiative, ARM Sulphi, told BBC Sinhala service that the relatives ofthose missing for over a year can submit an application at the mobile servicesthat are held until 28 June. The applications will be thenpublished at local government offices for a month, he said, for anybody to fileobjections if any. He added that free legal advice willbe offered to them requested the relatives to bring along all availabledocuments to the mobile services. Lengthy process Authorities plan to hold a mobileservice along with the Registrar General to issue death certificates if noobjections are filed. It is extremely difficult, and time consuming to get a deathcertificate issued for those missing in Sri Lanka. Under normal circumstances, the relatives of the disappearedare required to lodge a complaint with the police. Six months after the complaint, a death inquiry will beconducted through court order before issuing the death certificate. Many relatives who came to the service said they faced manydifficulties without death certificates for their lost ones. A mother of a missing 12-year old told BBC Sandeshaya thather son went missing after he left to school in 1995. Some relatives said accused the paramilitaries linked withthe government of abducting their relatives. They approached those concerned, said the relatives, but wasnever given a satisfactory answer. However, many still believe that their loved ones are yet tobe found, BBC reports. Viewer Comments
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