EU warns Sri Lanka rights abuses threaten trade concessions

(COLOMBO) - The European Union threatened on Tuesday to withhold trade concessions from Sri Lanka due to the island's worsening human rights record.

Colombo has come under fire for its rights record, with Human Rights Watch saying recently at least 1,500 people "disappeared" between 2006 and 2007 -- mostly ethnic Tamils living in the island's restive north and east.

The New York-based rights group said Sri Lanka was one of the world's worst perpetrators of "disappearances" and abductions and described the situation as a "national crisis".

"Respect for human rights is one of the key principles underpinning Sri Lanka's relations with the European Union," said Janez Premoze, head of the three-member EU delegation, at the end of a two-day visit to the island.

"Nonetheless, the EU continues to harbour very serious concerns about continuing reports of human rights abuses," Premoze told reporters.

The delegation noted Sri Lanka's key clothing export industry has benefited by doing business with the EU, where trade concessions are given based on sustainable development and good governance.

The tariff concessions end this year and nations wishing to renew must show high labour, environment and human rights standards when they reapply.

There is a "linkage between trade preferences and human rights," said James Moran, Asia Directorate at the European Commission.

The Colombo government pulled out of a six-year truce with the Tamil Tiger rebels in January and fighting has since escalated.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed since the ethnic conflict erupted in 1972.