See below for Channel 4's Paul Mason on Burmese opposition leader Aung San Su Kyi: As political heroes go, few rank higher that Burmese opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. Most people know her as a modern-day saint – the diminutive democrat who defied Burma’s ruthless military leaders. Yet an increasing number are beginning to question Ms Suu Kyi’s judgement. Remarks made in a BBC television interview this week in relation to that country’s brutal ethnic conflict between Buddhists and the minority Muslims have earned particular criticism. Observers and activists have accused Burma’s “icon of...
British Prime Minister David Cameron should immediately call to host the upcoming Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting in London, rather than Sri Lanka, wrote Rosemary Righter, an associate editor for The Times. Righter, the author of 'Utopia Lost: the United Nations and World Order' also applauded Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's decision as 'a display of leadership' stating that he was 'riding to the rescue of the Commonwealth'. She went on to call upon Cameron to move CHOGM away from Colombo, adding it was 'hardly beyond Britain to put on this show at short notice'. Extracts...
Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird has stated there is 'no room for moral ambiguity' on Sri Lanka as Prime Minister Stephen Harper boycotts the increasingly controversial Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting due to be held in Colombo. Writing in iPolitics.ca, Baird noted that Canada had made more than 30 public statements on Sri Lanka and that the opposition were united behind the Prime Minister's decision. Extracts have been reproduced below. See the full piece here . "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."
In two letters sent to the Guardian today, Britain's decision to go to the Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting in Colombo,and the Commonwealth's decision to allow Sri Lanka to host it, came under fire yet again. Michael Ellmanfidh, Officer for the Commonwealth, International Federation for Human Rights, wrote to the Guardian stating, " The Commonwealth is making a major mistake in holding its heads of government meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka (Report, 9 October), when that country is in serious breach of the values set out in the Commonwealth charter , and has even failed to comply with...
Writing in the Globe and Mail, Canadian Senator Hugh Segal has applauded Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s decision not to attend the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo, stating it would legitimise ‘a multitude of sins’. Segal is Canada’s Special Envoy to the Commonwealth and the Canadian representative on the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group. Extracts from his piece have been reproduced below. Read the full piece here . "As he pointed out, this was not an easy decision. Canada was one of the founding nations of the Commonwealth. All governments know and understand that there is a certain diplomatic simplicity in “going along to get along.” No confrontation, no hard feelings. But on this issue, the Commonwealth has sadly taken the path of least resistance. This is no credit to the Secretary General, the Commonwealth Secretariat or the member countries."
Writing in The Diplomat, the widely acclaimed Tamil journalist, J.S Tissainayagam, asks if the Tamil National Alliance can provide the leadership needed to deliver to the Tamil electorate who voted for real change. See here . Extract reproduced below: "..t he TNA’s election manifesto was an open acknowledgement that power sharing with Colombo under a unitary constitution is inadequate. It lays down categorically that the resolution of the Tamil question has to be based on shared sovereignty and federal structures, which recognize the Tamils’ right to self determination. Third, the Tamils are...
Writing in the New York Times, France's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Laurent Fabius, has called upon the UN Security Council members to 'voluntarily regulate their right to exercise their veto'. Speaking in the aftermath of the Security Council passing a resolution on Syria, Fabius said France had proposed a change to the UN system that would "convey the will of the international community to make the protection of human life a true priority", in the event of "mass crimes". Extracts have been reproduced below. See the full piece here . "France is dedicated to multilateralism and to the organization at its heart, the United Nations; this institution represents the main instrument of global political regulation in favor of peace and security. But a United Nations stalemate that lasts for two years, entailing dramatic human consequences, cannot be accepted by the global conscience. " ... "Populations were massacred and the worst scenario unfolded as the regime implemented large-scale use of chemical weapons against children, women and other civilians. For all those who expect the United Nations to shoulder its responsibilities in order to protect populations, this situation is reprehensible. "
Channel 4 reporter Jon Snow blogs about the cocktail party co-hosted in New York near the United Nations by British Foreign officials along with Sri Lanka and Australia. See here for full post. Extracts reproduced below: Last night, in a dimly lit side street a stone’s throw from the towering UN headquarters here in New York, Britain co-hosted a drinks party with Sri Lanka - a country led by regime accused of the worst war crimes committed this century. Australia joined the fray to render it a tripartite affair. This was an early taster of what is to come. An institution – the British Commonwealth – is to play a macabre role in securing the re-entry into the family of nations of a country which has unaddressed blood on its hands on an horrific scale. Commonwealth countries will be greeted and facilitated by a president, and a government, against whom evidence exists of war crimes and crimes against humanity, which we have screened and which the UN itself has substantiated. The reform programme underway inside the Commonwealth is centred on human rights. On the basis of the prickly charm offensive conducted last night, a terrible pact has perhaps been entered into not to mention Sri Lanka’s war crimes.
Writing in the UK's The Guardian, Callum Macraw, the director of the documentaries 'No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka', said that the UN "was given its first real test by the last few months of the war in Sri Lanka; it failed, shamefully and catastrophically." See here for full opinion piece, extract reproduced below: "Two years ago the Commonwealth of Nations pledged a renewed commitment to its core principles of "democracy, the rule of law and human rights". If Sri Lanka hosts the next meeting of Chogm, normal practice decrees that its president will assume the chairmanship of...