Editorial - 'Sri Lanka lets itself down' - published in the australian newspaper, The Age on Saturday:

ON DECEMBER 14, 2012, the 54 nations of the Commonwealth adopted a charter setting out for the first time the fundamental values underpinning their affiliation. Alongside democracy, human rights, peace and security, and freedom of expression are certain principles Australians tend to take for granted: the separation of powers, the rule of law and good governance. None stands alone. Democracy and human rights cannot be fully achieved if the rule of law is not in place; democracy cannot stand if there is not freedom of expression; and without good governance all the rest falls away.

Before Commonwealth leaders meet in Sri Lanka later this year, it would be wise to consider whether the host nation is abiding by the principles of the charter. We raise this matter because Sri Lanka's parliament in January, defying a ruling of the nation's highest court, voted to remove the chief justice. The action has been damned by the International Commission of Jurists, the Commonwealth Magistrates' and Judges' Association, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and Canada, which will boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting if it is held in Colombo.

Foreign Minister Bob Carr says it is better to foster dialogue rather than isolate a nation over its human rights record, and he vows Australia will go to CHOGM. The Age believes Sri Lankans already have endured far too much. Australia needs to stop mollycoddling the Sri Lankan government and issue a rebuke, letting it know we are appalled by repeated failures on human rights.