The Canadian government has hit out at claims by Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma that Sri Lanka had done enough to address human rights concerns.
Canadian Foreign Minister Deepak Obhrai said to the Colombo Gazette that there was a clear deterioration in democracy, rule of law, freedom of the press and the freedom of religion.
“I went to the local newspaper there (Uthayan – Jaffna) and saw horrific pictures of journalists being killed and the press being attacked. What is very disturbing to us, aside from the attacks on the journalists, is that nothing has been done to catch the culprits; nothing has been done to provide security to the people. This is the lack to what we are saying is tangible results to achieving the Commonwealth principles,” he said.
“We are on record that the Commonwealth is not taking the hard steps it is expected to take. I completely disagree with Sharma’s assessment. The Commonwealth countries must stick to the principles of the Commonwealth. If they stick to the principles of the Commonwealth, they will be able to tell Sri Lanka ‘look we need you to move in the forward path’; a real, tangible, forward path, not a cosmetic path. That will be a strong message,” he said.
“Sri Lanka must show us that it is taking tangible steps, not cosmetic steps. But real, tangible steps, only then can we say ‘yes, there is forward movement and we are happy’. During my trip to the North, it was the people of Sri Lanka who were telling us their problems, not the Diaspora – the people of Sri Lanka. I have told the Diaspora that they can help assist Sri Lanka through the development processes, not through political interference. The people over here will make the decision. The Tamils of the North, or should I say the Sri Lankans of the North, will make that decision on how they want to run the country. So, it’s better for the government of Sri Lanka to get off this wrong notion they have in their heads and look at what is really happening in this country.”