Speaking to Channel 4 News on the mass protests against Rajapaksa in the UK on Wednesday, the chairman of the Royal Commonwealth Society, Peter Kellner, said the meeting with Rajapaksa had been an embarrassment to the Queen, however it was due to a "mistake" made at the last Commonwealth summit, when "they took no action against the mounting evidence" of human rights violations in Sri Lanka.
See here for full interview with Channel 4 News.
Transcript of interview follows:
Q. I asked whether, in his view, the President of Sri Lanka should have been here today.
A. No I don't think he should, it wasn’t a mistake that the Queen or Buckingham Palace made, Sri Lanka is a member of the Commonwealth. The mistake was made by the Commonwealth at their last summit, last year in Perth in Australia, when they took no action against the mounting evidence that you amongst others have provided, of things going wrong and human rights being violated in Sri Lanka.
Q. But if they won’t suspend him, then he’s a legitimate leader of a Commonwealth country and has every right to be here and to be heard.
A. Here’s the problem, it’s not just any old Commonwealth country, they are, Sri Lanka is hosting the next Commonwealth summit, which the Queen shall attend towards the end of next year, What worries me is that if nothing is done to improve the human rights situation in Sri Lanka, that summit is going to be a disaster.