Civil society groups write to Commonwealth Sec Gen on SL
Seven international civil society and rights groups have urged the Commonwealth Secretary General to re-examine Sri Lanka in light of the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2013 (CHOGM) due to be held in Sri Lanka in March.
See here for full letter.
Strongly criticising reports that the Secretary General was urging the Canadian prime minister to change his mind on a threatened boycott of the event, the groups said,
"The Commonwealth Secretariat must lay down benchmarks of discernible, quantifiable and measurable steps that the government of Sri Lanka must take before it can hope to host a CHOGM that has the wholehearted participation of both Heads of Governments and civil society".
The groups, including Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Human Rights Law Centre (Australia), Human Rights Watch, Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace & Justice and United Nations Association of the UK, listed a 'minimum' benchmark as:
1. Fully restore the rule of law;
2. Lift restrictions on the enjoyment of all fundamental freedoms for all people within its borders ;