The representative of the Queen at the Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting in Sri Lanka, Prince Charles, has offered his help to win justice for the murder of Khuram Sheikh, who was killed on the island in 2011.

According to the Observer, Prince Charles has taken a private interest in the case, as pressure on David Cameron grows to pull out of the meeting.

Minister Counsellor of the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in New York, Waruna Sri Dhanapala, has been elected as the Vice-Chair of the Second Committee for its 68th Session.

The Asia-Pacific group unanimously endorsed his appointment to the Bureau of the Second Committee, according to the Defence Ministry's website.

"Canada takes its membership in the Commonwealth very seriously. It is for this simple reason that we believe in upholding the basic principles it stands for: freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Without them, what does the Commonwealth stand for?"

"The Commonwealth failed to put any pressure on a regime that has so blatantly ignored international calls for change... As a consequence, we gave this regime a free pass to continue down this path."

"This was not a decision taken in haste. It was carefully considered with one aim in mind: for Canada to send a message about our displeasure with an organization that has failed to stand up for its fundamental principles. How can an organization like the Commonwealth reward a country like Sri Lanka, not just with hosting a summit, but by allowing it to chair the organization for two years? And after no meaningful reconciliation following a brutal and violent struggle?"

In a preview of a report analysing media violence in Sri Lanka, Tamils Against Genocide (TAG) has determined that the Sri Lankan “state repression of the media mirrors the state’s wider ethno-chauvinist policies”, placing Tamil journalists at a greater risk of violence than their Sinhalese counterparts.
 
Examining data from, Journalists for Democracy (JDS), TAG found that of all the reported murdered or disappeared journalists listed by JDS since 2004, 37 are media workers of ethnic Tamil origin while 4 are ethnic Sinhalese and 2 Sri Lankan Muslims.

The advocacy group went on to observe that approximately 75 per cent have taken place in the majority Tamil-speaking regions of the island.

Extracts of their piece have been reproduced below. See the full piece here.

"Sri Lanka has gained a reputation as one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists alongside Afghanistan, Somalia, Eritrea and North Korea."
 
"Yet considering that much of Sri Lanka’s post-independence period has been entrenched in ethnic violence, the central question of race has been absent in the analysis of media attacks."

"Indeed, often ethnicities of attacked media workers remain unspecified in the reporting of human rights and news organisations. With the erosion of ethnic labels in the reporting of violence against media personnel, some core reasons for the Sri Lankan states repression of media personnel elude us."
 

The Canadian Council for Refugees has called ‘more consistency in Canada’s response to the serious human rights abuses that continue to occur in Sri Lanka’, as evidence of asylum seekers being deported to torture has surfaced.

Applauding Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s recent statement on Sri Lanka, particularly the noting of “absence of accountability for the serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian standards during and after the civil war is unacceptable”, CCR called for this approach to be congruent.

The statement read,

“On the other hand, CCR is shocked by Canada’s treatment of Sri Lankans who fled to Canada to escape those human rights violations, most particularly those on the MV Sun Sea who arrived on the West Coast in August 2010.”

CCR also noted a recently disclosed memo from the Canada Border Services Agency, calling on its officers to “use all legal means to detain the passengers as long as possible, to try to have them declared inadmissible and to argue against them being recognized as refugees”.

See the memo here.

An investigative report by Jaffna based organisation, The Social Architects (TSA),  confirmed that public health officials committed serious violations of women’s rights to informed consent, reproductive autonomy and health.

Following recent news of coercive birth control in the North-East, TSA visited investigated areas and villages where Internally Displaced Persons had been settled to rebuild their lives.

Following research in the regions, whilst under constant surveillance of the military, the organisation reached eight conclusions.

The following conclusions were found in the report:

1.      Women in these villages lack adequate access to primary care.

2.        Women lack adequate access to quality contraceptive services.

3.      Public health workers asked women to come to a government sponsored nutrition clinic under false pretences.

4.      Government health workers coerced women into taking implant.

5.       Government health workers did not provide adequate counselling and women did not give full and informed consent.

6.     Government health workers failed to conduct adequate medical pre-screening and to provide post-implant care instructions.

7.     Public health employees failed to provide information to women who accepted the implant.

8.     Women feel unsafe asking doctors questions. Government employees have told their subordinates to remain silent on the issue-perpetuating a culture of impunity.

The Sri Lankan government has said it will review its diplomatic ties with Canada, after Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that he would boycott the forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting over Sri Lanka’s human rights record.

Speaking to reporters, Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said that the government may summon the Canadian ambassador in Colombo to discuss future relations between the two countries.

Britain has cut funding to the Commonwealth over concerns about its performance and leadership, reported The Telegraph.

A former senior official said that Whitehall has imposed cuts of £3million over two years from its grant to the troubled organisation, which is facing increased criticism over the venue of its forthcoming summit in Sri Lanka. Britain is the largest contributor to the Commonwealth, giving £16million a year for the organisation’s activities.