Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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685. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to the Sri Lankan Government's active suppression of the right of Tamil war survivors and families of victims to remember those that died in the recent conflict on that island; if his attention has been further drawn to the continued police harassment of a person (detail supplied); if he will condemn the Sri Lankan Government's suppression of memorial activities such as this; and if he will raise the issue with his Sri Lankan counterpart. [27127/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I am aware of the case to which the Deputy refers. I am also aware of the allegations of police harassment against him. I condemn any such actions. Three decades of civil war in Sri Lanka, which ended in 2009, caused the internal displacement of tens of thousands of Sri Lankans, many of whom are members of the Tamil population. This remains an issue to the present day.

Given our own history, we are very much aware that reconciliation is an ongoing process and requires consistent engagement by all involved. It can take time to build trust and for the positive developments fostered by the reconciliation process to become evident.

Ireland continues to monitor developments in Sri Lanka. Under the terms of a resolution (No. 30/1) adopted by the UN Human Rights Council on 1st October 2015, the Council welcomed the commitment of the Government of Sri Lanka to undertake a comprehensive approach to dealing with the past. Ireland warmly welcomed the co-sponsoring of this resolution by Sri Lanka, which signalled the determination of the Government to ensure justice and strengthen human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

We are very pleased also to note the constructive engagement of the Government of Sri Lanka with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) since then and the steps taken by the Government to implement Resolution 30/1. We welcome the progress made in constitutional reform and in the situation of human rights, although more remains to be done.

In our statement to the Human Rights Council on 22 March 2017 during discussions on an OHCHR report on Sri Lanka, we recalled the commitments made by the Sri Lankan Government, including in Resolution 30/1, to address challenges facing civil society and human rights defenders in Sri Lanka and urged continuing and strengthened attention by the authorities to this issue.

We will continue to monitor the case in question including through our Embassy in New Delhi, which is accredited to Sri Lanka. Our Ambassador in New Delhi, maintains regular contact with the Sri Lankan authorities and regularly visits Sri Lanka for discussions there.