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A Commonwealth of uncommon views
The war maybe over in Sri Lanka but the atrocities continues and Canada does not want to have anything to do with anything that will give Colombo credence.
In the wake of the Commonwealth's decision to allow Colombo to host its biennial heads of government meeting later this year, John Baird, Canada's foreign minister has launched an all out verbal offensive against the island nation’s failure to tackle human rights abuses and demonstrate a clear commitment to democracy and the rule of law.
"We're appalled that Sri Lanka seems poised to host CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) and to be chair-in-residence of the Commonwealth for two years," he told the Guardian.
"Canada didn't get involved in the Commonwealth to accommodate evil; we came to combat it. We are deeply disappointed that Sri Lanka appears poised to take on this leadership role."
“If the Commonwealth is to be a relevant force in our society, then it must take human rights seriously”, said David Poopalapillai, National Spokesperson for the Canadian Tamil Congress. “Allowing a human rights perpetrator like Sri Lanka to not only host the Heads of Government Meeting, but also lead the Commonwealth for the next two years is an utter disgrace to the institution and questions the credibility of its existence,” said Poopalapillai.
But supporters of the current government led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, say the rhetoric and stand by the Stephen Harper government is nothing more than a ploy to get supports from ethnic Tamil vote.
“There is ample evidence that the current Canadian Government’s policy on Sri Lanka is based on and reflects the demands of LTTE supporters in Canada. Canada has been in the forefront of the effort to stop Sri Lanka from being the host to the CHOGM to satisfy their Tamil vote base, wrote Ira de Silva of London.
“Canada talks of human rights ignoring its own record. The UN has faulted Canada on human rights which it has not credibly addressed. This illustrates Canada’s hypocrisy.”
Sri Lanka, whose economy is supported by more than US$6 billion remittances by its migrant workers, had hoped to showcase its post-war revival at this year's Commonwealth summit, but observers say its biggest international event in decades is in danger of becoming a major embarrassment.
Invitations have yet to be posted for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and with more than six months to go, several key leaders are expected to stay away as a mark of protest against President Rajapakse's regime.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has urged his peers to follow him in boycotting the November 15-17 meeting unless Sri Lanka probes its troops over allegations – denied by Colombo – that 40,000 civilians were killed in 2009 in the battle against the ruthless Tamil terrorists, which got millions in illegal funds from Canada-based Tamils.
There is a major question mark over British Prime Minister David Cameron's attendance, say diplomats, while India's Manmohan Singh faces domestic pressure to stay away.
While Rajapakse’s regime reigns supreme at home, his government has also faced foreign censure over attacks against media and journalists, judicial independence and suppression of the opposition. It has also become notorious for policies that help to enrich the Rajapakse family.
Commonwealth Secretary, Kamalesh Sharma, defended the CHOGM decision, saying that he had found Sri Lanka to be "engaged and willing" to improve itself through measures such as institution-building.
Sharma denied suggestions that the Commonwealth risked compromising its credibility by refusing to take Colombo to task over accusations of war crimes, torture and institutional corruption
But Baird would have none of it.
"It's not just Canada: the Commonwealth Journalists' Association; the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative; the Commonwealth Lawyers' Association; the Commonwealth Legal Education Association; the Commonwealth Magistrates' and Judges' Association; Human Rights Watch, the United Nations Human Rights Council – all of these people have come out and unanimously have said that not only has Sri Lanka not made progress, but in many instances, is getting worse."
Baird pointed to the impeachment and sacking three months ago of the country's chief justice and her replacement with a successor who is close to President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
"Both of those actions are appalling and they show that not only have we not seen an improvement, we've seen a deterioration in recent months and that is causing Canada great concern," he said.
The Human Rights Watch said he Rajapaksa-led government has taken no meaningful steps to address serious abuses by government forces in the final months of the armed conflict with the LTTE in 2009, a release from Human Rights Watch said.
During this period, according to UN, an estimated 40,000 civilians died. Since 2009, the government has been responsible for a worsening human rights situation.
In addition to hosting the 2013 Commonwealth summit, Sri Lanka will hold the chairmanship of the Commonwealth from 2013 to 2015, undermining the credibility of the Commonwealth on human rights matters, Human Rights Watch said.
“To allow Sri Lanka to host the summit without rapid improvements would be to reward an abusive government with an undeserved badge of international acceptance,” Human Rights Watch said.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh said it will back Sri Lanka on the human rights issue, reported Xinhua.
Bangladeshi Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque gave the assurance when he met President Mahinda Rajapaksa last week.
"We stand by our Sri Lankan brothers on the issue of human rights. It's an internal matter, and we are confident of the leadership. We don't want to see this brought up (in international fora) at any level," Haque told the president.
Bangladesh is the Chair of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) which did not act on calls to suspend Sri Lanka from the Commonwealth or shift the venue of the Commonwealth summit to be held in Colombo in November
CMAG members, include Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Jamaica, Maldives, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, and Vanuatu.
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