Commonwealth rights envoy opposed

By Saroj Pathirana| BBC Sinhala
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The Sri Lanka government has confirmed that it objects to a move by a group of countries to establish a special envoy aimed at making the Commonwealth more effective on human rights.

A report by an advisory group has made over 100 recommendations aimed at reforming the organization, including bolstering the organization's ability to tackle violations of its core principles by member states.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa's spokesman, Bandula Jayasekara told BBC Sinhala service that a group of countries including Sri Lanka opposed to one of the key proposals to appoint a rights commissar.

“It is not only Sri Lanka. There are also other countries who are opposing this,” he told BBC Sandeshaya from Perth.

Amnesty International 'biased'

"Let me also add that Sri Lanka has the right to oppose when other countries have the right to propose.”

Media reports said India also supports Sri Lanka’s policy on the issue.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International has, meanwhile, said the two countries have “a lot to lose” if the human rights records in Sri Lanka and India were open to scrutiny.

The watchdog has also questioned the decision by the Commonwealth to host next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in a country with a questionable human rights record.

The Commonwealth, said AI, “risks becoming irrelevant” if the next CHOGM held in Sri Lanka in 2013.

But in a strong worded attack, the Sri Lanka government has accused the AI of being biased against the island nation.

Gay rights

"We have seen how biased Amnesty International is and they have been issuing many anti-Sri Lankan statements,” Bandula Jayasekara told BBC Sandeshaya from Perth.

“It is time that Amnesty International clears their backyard before pointing the finger at a democratic country,” he added.

But the rights watchdog is not impressed.

"It is absurd to even consider allowing Sri Lanka to host CHOGM as long as it fails to account for alleged war crimes," said Madhu Malhotra, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Deputy Director.

The BBC's Duncan Kennedy in Perth reports that the summit is divided over several key issues including moves to get rid of laws in some member states which discriminate against gay men and lesbians, our correspondent says.

“I am not qualified to comment on that. It is a matter for the external affairs minister who is taking part in the ministerial discussions,” was the response by Mr Jayasekara when asked about Sri Lanka’s response.

© BBC Sinhala

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Sri Lanka: LLRC Report not for public

By Dinouk Colombage | The Sunday Leader
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The final report of the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) will not be made public by the Commission.

A draft of the final report of the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) has been completed and is being studied, media coordinator of the LLRC Lakshman Wickramasinghe said.

Wickramasinghe told The Sunday Leader that the Commission will be prepared to hand over the report to the President by the second week of November.
A report compiled by an expert panel appointed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to advise him on matters related to Sri Lanka had earlier this year placed its report in the public domain despite opposition raised by the government.

When asked if a copy of the LLRC report will also be placed in the public domain Wickramasinghe said that the decision of whether or not the document will be made public lies with the President.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa appointed the eight member Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission in May last year to report on the lessons to be learnt from the events which took place between February 2002 to May 2009.

The Commission has been charged with reporting whether any person, group or institution directly or indirectly bears responsibility over some of the incidents.
It was also tasked with reporting on measures to be taken to prevent the recurrence of such concerns in the future and promote further national unity and reconciliation among all communities.

© The Sunday Leader

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Sri Lanka spurns war crime claims

By Daniel Flitton and Michelle Grattan | The Age
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Sri Lanka's President has hit back against allegations of war crimes and continuing abuse of the country's Tamil-minority, saying the ''eradication of terrorism'' was the basis of Sri Lanka's prosperity.

Mahinda Rajapaksa defied calls for Colombo to be stripped of the right to host the next Commonwealth leaders' meeting, telling a gathering in Perth yesterday that reconciliation after Sri Lanka's brutal civil war was well under way.

''When the next CHOGM is held in Sri Lanka, it is my firm belief that it will be a memorable experience for you, my dear friends,'' he told the Commonwealth Business Forum.
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Greens leader Bob Brown yesterday said that Australia should boycott the 2013 CHOGM in Colombo if Sri Lanka did not adequately address issues of human rights and democracy.

Senator Brown said the government should follow Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who has threatened that Canada will stay away unless Sri Lanka acts. He said the Commonwealth was trying to make itself relevant - and Sri Lanka was a big challenge to that relevancy. ''If CHOGM is held in Colombo with nothing done about the war crimes and civil rights, that could be the end of the Commonwealth,'' Senator Brown said.

''It would raise a big question mark over the Commonwealth if it can't bring Sri Lanka to do the right thing.''

More than 7000 people are estimated to have been killed in 2009 in the final months of the three-decade conflict with the separatist Tamil Tigers.

But despite a UN finding that credible allegations of war crimes should be answered on both sides, Mr Rajapaksa defended the military crackdown.

''An end to terrorist violence was absolutely essential to moving the country forward along the path of economic and social development. We suffered for 30 years,'' he said.

Sri Lanka has refused to allow an independent investigation of the conflict, leading Canada to threaten to pull out of the 2013 CHOGM summit.

Colombo has set up its own inquiry on the conflict with a report expected next month.

Mr Rajapaksa said almost 11,700 of 12,000 captured Tamils had been released after time in rehabilitation camps.

Mr Rajapaksa said the Sri Lankan economy had grown 8 per cent annually and war-torn regions in the north and east of the country had grow by 22 per cent.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak called on Australian politicians not to make his country part of the domestic political crossfire. Mr Najib, who met Prime Minister Julia Gillard yesterday, said that the ''Malaysia solution'' had been unfairly characterised because ''it's actually a Malaysia-Australia solution''.

He said that the ball was now in Australia's court, ''but please don't make Malaysia part of your crossfire''. Hopefully, the government would get enough support in Parliament for the arrangement to go through, he said.

He also had a swipe at criticisms from the Coalition. ''I'm not against the opposition per se, but as leader of the country I have to set the record straight - that asylum seekers and refugees are treated well in Malaysia and that's a fact recognised by the UN.''

Last night, Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma played down the prospect of CHOGM adopting the Eminent Persons Group's proposal for a commissioner for human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

© The Age

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