The Human Rights and Democracy: 2011 Foreign & Commonwealth Report released by Foreign Secretary William Hague in the British parliament today said that significant progress was still needed to address the institutional weaknesses that allow for frequent human rights violations. Describing the human rights picture in Sri Lanka in 2011 as mixed, the report said terrorist suspects continued to be held without charge for long periods and there were restrictions on freedom of expression, political violence, reports of torture in custody, further cases of disappearances and almost no progress in investigating past disappearances. "No concrete progress was made in holding accountable those alleged to be responsible for violations of international human rights and humanitarian law during the final stages of the war," it added. The report which is a comprehensive look at the human rights work of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) around the world in 2011 highlights the UK's human rights concerns in 28 key countries and the Sri Lanka is one of the concerned countries. The section on Sri Lanka focuses on accountability for alleged war crimes, respect for human rights -freedom of expression, minority rights, women's rights - a political settlement in a post-conflict era and abductions and disappearances, among other themes. The environment for human rights defenders in Sri Lanka remained difficult throughout 2011, the report says. The UK has supported projects to document issues faced by human rights defenders and to ensure support and protection for them during 2011. Disappearances and abductions continued, it says, with a sharp rise in the number of disappearances towards the end of the year. Although Sri Lanka has a well-developed judicial system, there are significant challenges to effective criminal justice and rule of law, according to the FCO. The report noted that however, physical reconstruction efforts taken by the Sri Lankan government, including the building of bridges and roads, and extensive de-mining, helped to improve the social and economic rights of Sri Lankans. Although people were generally free to practice their religion without interference, there were some complaints of onerous administrative burdens placed on certain religions and the UK High Commission in Colombo continues to monitor these matters and discuss issues with religious leaders, the FCO report said. The High Commission has found no evidence to substantiate allegations that returning migrants and refugees were being abused by the Sri Lankan authorities as some have alleged. Focusing on women's and children's rights, the report said according to activists, sexual exploitation of children remains a problem and women's rights require particular attention in the conflict-affected north and east, where there are up to 90,000 war widows. The Department of Probation and Child Care Services has provided protection to child victims of abuse and sexual exploitation, but there were no comprehensive programmes to address the problem.
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