UN Human Rights Committee review: UK MP raises human rights concerns on Nat. Intelligence Chief’s presence

Raising concerns about the virtual participation of retired Major General of the Army and incumbent Chief of National Intelligence Jeewaka Ruwan Kulatunga as part of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee’s sixth periodic review of Sri Lanka’s human rights record, the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils and Conservative Member of the United Kingdom (UK) Parliament for Carshalton and Wallington, Elliot Colburn urged the committee to question Kulatunga about his role at the Joseph Camp.

Kulatunga’s predecessor as the Chief of National Intelligence, retired Deputy Inspector General of Police Sisira Mendis, was similarly questioned at the UN Committee Against Torture in 2016.

In a letter to the Human Rights Committee, Colburn stated: “As the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils in the UK Parliament, I am writing to raise concerns about the virtual participation of Maj. Gen. Kulatunga, an alleged human rights perpetrator, as part of the UN Human Rights Committee’s sixth periodic review of Sri Lanka’s human rights record. Kulatunga is number 11 on the Sri Lankan Government delegation list. From 7 November 2016, to 27 July 2017, Kulatunga was the Commander at the Joseph Camp (Security Forces Headquarters - West), where repeated accounts of torture and sexual violence throughout the armed conflict in Sri Lanka were reported. Several victims of torture at the Joseph Camp during this period now live in the UK, and therefore, the formal inclusion of Kulatunga as part of the Sri Lankan Government delegation in the UN Human Rights Committee’s sixth periodic review has caused outrage. The inclusion of alleged human rights perpetrators at UN meetings is not something that should go unnoticed. Should this proceed, I urge the Committee to question Kulatunga about his role at the Joseph Camp, similar to when Kulatunga’s predecessor, Mendis, was questioned at the UN Committee Against Torture in 2016.”