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Sri Lanka war legacy overshadows Commonwealth summit
[Pak Daily Times] Sri Lanka had hoped this week's Commonwealth summit would showcase its post-war revival but the event is turning into PR disaster with the leaders of Canada and India deciding to boycott over human rights...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... concerns. The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) opens in Colombo on Friday, hoping to tackle a range of economic, social and diplomatic issues affecting the 53-member bloc. Prince Charles will represent the organization's ageing titular head, Queen Elizabeth II. Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse said he was looking forward to highlighting the island nation's "tremendous transformation" after "suffering for decades from a brutal war against terrorism" that ended in 2009. But the war's bitter legacy has dominated the build-up, with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announcing Sunday he would skip the summit after coming under pressure from some of his ministers to send a signal about alleged abuses committed during the conflict. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper urged his peers in April to follow him in boycotting the meeting to protest Sri Lanka's refusal to probe its troops over allegations 40,000 mainly ethnic Tamil non-combatants were killed at the end of the separatist war. British Prime Minister  David Cameron... has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite,which means he's not. Since he is not deeply ideologicalhe lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger,but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ... has said he will take part, but has pledged to push for an international investigation into the allegations, while New Zealand leader John Key said on Monday his attendance did not imply support for the Sri Lankan government. Cameron said he would put "serious questions" to Rajapakse, after watching a "chilling documentary" about the events of 2009 that shows footage of alleged war crimes. Sri Lanka's alleged abuses will almost certainly not be formally discussed during the three-day event given the island's staunch denials of wrongdoing and even as it faces international censure for failing to investigate them. "The Commonwealth is not a forum to pass judgement on each other's problems," Foreign Minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris told news hounds. "All countries have problems. But those issues must be resolved by the governments of those countries in keeping with the aspirations of their people." He drew support from Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who on Monday reaffirmed his intention to attend, adding that he did not want Australia to "trash one of the very longstanding and important bodies that we are a senior member of". Posted by: Fred 2013-11-12 |
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