The European Commission has expressed serious concerns over Sri Lanka's human rights record.A senior official - Joao Aguiar Machado - said the EU might withhold an aid package worth a hundred million dollars if the situation did not improve
.Human rights groups have accused the government of failing to control killings and disappearances since hostilities with the Tamil Tiger rebels intensified in 2005.
The government said the human rights situation had improved, but admitted there had been concerns about rights violations in the past. EU logo
The commission said the package was dependent on Sri Lanka removing barriers to humanitarian assistance, including resolving visa issues for Red Cross and U.N. workers in the country.
"We expressed our serious concerns with the human rights situation in Sri Lanka, as indicated by a range of sources including reports from United Nations rapporteurs," Deputy Director General for External Relations of the European Commission Joao Machado said in a statement.
"If you look at 2007, the situation of disappearances and other incidences are better than 2006," said Rajiva Wijesinghe, an official at the Ministry of Human Rights.
