The Tamil Guardian emailed me asking for my views on situation facing Tamils in Sri Lanka. I replied as follows: "In Sri Lanka, there must be an investigation into allegations of human rights violations and war crimes. The government in Colombo will be judged by the international community on its political and judicial reforms and by the way it treats the media. The Sri Lankan government must reach out and recognise its past mistakes."
Of course, the situation in Sri Lanka is a very complicated one and groups like the Tamil Tigers must be condemned for their attacks on civilians. My Lib Dem colleague Stephen Williams has written about it in detail and I very much agree with what he wrote. When I call for an investigation into allegations of human rights violations and war crimes, I include within that the activities of the Tamil Tigers as well as the Sri Lankan government. I do not dispute the Sri Lankan government's right to fight terrorism; I do dispute some of the methods used and the government's poor handling of the post-conflict situation.
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