European lawmakers yesterday expressed disappointment over Sri Lanka’s slow roll-out of human rights reforms that the country had promised in exchange for trade concessions.
A European Parliament delegation said they had seen little progress more than five months after the agreement. There was no immediate comment from the government.
“It was noted that a number of important issues remain pending, in particular the revision of the Prevention of Terrorism Act on which the Prime Minister and other senior figures had given their personal assurances,” the EU delegation said in a statement.
Sri Lanka originally lost the EU concession in 2010 after then-president Mahinda Rajapaksa rejected demands from the international community to address human rights abuses allegedly committed during a 2009 offensive to crush a Tamil insurgency.
The garments industry is Sri Lanka’s second biggest hard currency earner after remittances.
It boasts annual exports of around $5 billion and produces goods for Victoria’s Secret, Tommy Hilfiger, Nike, Marks & Spencer and other well known brands.
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Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala told Parliament today that the suspect in the rape of a lady doctor at the Anuradhapura teaching hospital has been identified as an army deserter and he will be apprehended shortly.
Police have arrested the suspect connected to the sexual assault on a female doctor at the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital today morning in Galnewa.
The Dutch Public Prosecutor suspects two companies of paying bribes in the construction of hospitals in Sri Lanka, according to an investigation by FD, the Dutch financial newspaper.
The Government today tabled in the House the Report of the Commission to Inquiry into the Establishment and Maintenance of Unlawful Places of Detention and Torture Chambers in the Batalanda Housing Scheme.
The Minister of Power, Kumara Jayakody, stated that in the future, internationally funded projects, such as power projects, will only be carried out through government-to-government (G2G) agreements and competitive procurement.
Three persons arrested on Saturday close to the Thalawila St Anne’s Church have been held under detention orders for questioning.
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