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<p>The British government calls on all countries – including Sri Lanka – to abolish
the death penalty. Although the death penalty has not been carried out in Sri Lanka
since 1976, capital punishment remains legal and the death sentence continues to be
handed down for crimes including murder, drug trafficking and rape. There have been
occasional calls for these sentences to be carried out but it has become established
practice for them to be commuted to life imprisonment. i.e. de facto moratorium.</p><p>Sri
Lanka has been a consistent supporter of UN General Assembly resolutions calling for
a worldwide suspension of executions since the first such resolution was proposed
in 2007. Our High Commission in Colombo joined the EU delegation in lobbying senior
officials in the Sri Lankan Ministry of External Relations to maintain this position
in the December 2018 UN vote, supporting a moratorium on the use of the death penalty.
In January 2019, after further reporting of the intention to restart the death penalty,
our High Commission in Colombo raised the issue with senior officials in the Sri Lankan
government.</p><p>The Government of Sri Lanka is well aware of the UK and EU position
on the death penalty and we hope the moratorium will be sustained.</p>
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