Writing in the Asian Correspondent, Frances Harrison has stated hosting the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka “rubber stamps the Rajapaksa regime” saying that the reputation of the Commonwealth was at stake.
Extracts from the former BBC journalist and author of “Still Counting the Dead” piece entitled “Commonwealth struggles for unity amid Sri Lanka HR concerns” have been reproduced below.
See the full piece here.
“Holding the Commonwealth’s main gathering in Colombo rubber stamps the Rajapaksa regime, endorsing its extreme Sinhala chauvinist agenda and whitewashing war crimes. As the host, Sri Lanka will head the 54-nation body for two years and automatically sit on the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, which is tasked with taking action on thorny issues like democracy and rule of law.”
“But the Commonwealth likes to operate by consensus and it’s paralysed by division on the issue of Sri Lanka. Some argue the emphasis on human rights is a preoccupation of Western nations – the old white commonwealth. Others say Sri Lanka is a watershed moment for the organisation’s relevance and commitment to democratic values. The Commonwealth’s Secretary General is one of those who believes in engagement with Sri Lanka; he was seen in public at a recent official dinner in London warmly embracing the Sri Lankan Ambassador which raised some eyebrows.”
“What’s at stake is the reputation of the Commonwealth – a diverse group of nations united by shared values. Soon it will be led by a country that committed war crimes on a scale that the UN says, “represented a grave assault on the entire regime of international law”.”
Also see our editorial: A common wealth of values that Sri Lanka does not share (15 March 2013)