Sri Lanka, which had a regime change in the beginning of 2015, has witnessed an improvement in the overall human rights situation. But, in the Northern and Eastern provinces, some of the “positive changes are less apparent”, says a report of the U.K.’s Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO).

Making this observation in its annual report on human rights and democracy for 2015, the FCO stated that “human rights defenders continued to report harassment and surveillance in 2015, a point raised by the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances during its visit in November. The OISL [OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka] report also highlighted a number of human rights concerns that still remain, including continued reports of torture, and sexual and gender-based violence”.

The U.K. urged the government to investigate these and other allegations of human rights violations, and “will continue to push for progress in these areas”, the FCO said. The document has been prepared in the light of Sri Lanka being one of the 30 “Human Rights Priority Countries” (HRPCs). At the same time, the report quoted the U.K. Minister for Human Rights as identifying Sri Lanka as one of the three countries which showed that “progress really does depend on effective leadership from the top”.

It said the government had taken positive steps to improve freedom of expression; reduce inter-community tensions; and restore the independence of institutions. The government had also “signalled its willingness” to address longstanding allegations of past human rights abuses and violations. Expressing the hope that the “positive trajectory” would continue in 2016, the FCO said “we will continue to encourage and support Sri Lanka to deliver on its commitments to the HRC, and to make early progress to build wider support for its efforts to address accountability”.

(The Hindu)