"SELF DETERMINATION IS KEY TO THE WORLD PEACE"
Harper could boycott Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka?
[Thursday, 15 September 2011 08:42] Featured, NewsSeptember, 15, 2011
Harper could boycott Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka
‘[I]f we do not see progress in Sri Lanka in terms of human rights…I will not as prime minister be attending that Commonwealth summit:’ Harper
By Sneh Duggal
Published Sep 14, 2011 6:33 PM
PMO photo: Jason Ransom
Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is set to boycott the 2013 Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka if the island state’s government does not improve human rights, according to a statement he made last week.
"I intend to make clear to my fellow leaders at the Commonwealth that if we do not see progress in Sri Lanka in terms of human rights and some of the issues that you raised, I will not as prime minister be attending that Commonwealth summit," said Mr. Harper.
He said this at a round table event with ethnic media on Sept. 9 in response to a journalist’s question about alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka, according to a spokesman for the prime minister’s office.
The prime minister had previously expressed concern about the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting being held in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital.
Every two years, Commonwealth leaders meet to discuss global and Commonwealth issues at the heads-of-government event. One is set to happen in Australia next month.
Mr. Harper said he hopes other leaders will take a similar position as him on the boycott and that this will pressure the Sri Lankan government to take action and make improvements in terms of political reconciliation, democratic values and accountability.
"We are concerned about the situation," he said.
The Sri Lankan High Commission in Canada did not immediately respond to requests for comment before publication.
Meanwhile, others are saying that the summit scheduled to take place in Sri Lanka would provide the country with an opportunity to showcase what is being done to "restore and repair the damaged mosaic that is Sri Lanka," according to a recent article by Raj Gonsalkorale in the Asian Tribune. Also stated is the idea that a boycott would only harm the people of Sri Lanka and be against the spirit of the Commonwealth.
There has been increasing international pressure for the United Nations to create an independent body to investigate alleged war crimes during the recently-ended Sri Lankan civil war.
For more than 25 years, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, commonly called the Tamil Tigers, fought against Sri Lankan government forces in an effort to separate the Tamil-majority regions in the north and east of Sri Lanka from the rest of the Sinhalese-dominated South Asian island nation. The war culminated in a major Sri Lankan government offensive in May 2009 that saw the LTTE defeated as a military force.
A report, released by an advisory panel that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon set up, suggested that the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam violated international human rights and humanitarian law in the war’s dying days. The report was released last spring.
The UN announced this week that the Secretary-General has sent the report to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.
"While the Secretary-General had given time to the government of Sri Lanka to respond to the report, the government has declined to do so, and instead has produced its own reports on the situation in the north of Sri Lanka, which are being forwarded along with the Panel of Experts report," said Martin Nesirky, Mr. Ban’s spokesperson, in a statement.
In his talk with ethnic media, Mr. Harper also stated his support of an independent investigation.
Meanwhile, David Poopalapillai, national spokesperson for the Canadian Tamil Congress, said he supports the prime minister’s views and hopes other leaders will follow suit.
"We are deeply touched by his words. Our prime minister is simply reflecting Canadian values…paying respect to human rights," said Mr. Poopalapillai.
He said he would like to see the Sri Lankan government heed international advice and look and learn from federal systems in other countries, such as Canada
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Global Peace Support Group UK Ltd is a registered organisation based in London. The organisation dedicated to be involved in humanitarian and other related issues. We also work along with other similar organisations to promote peace and harmony among various societies..
GLOBAL PEACE SUPPORT GROUP - UK - TIRELESSLY WORK ON THE CONCEPT OF:
"SELF DETERMINATION IS KEY TO THE WORLD PEACE"
MOURNS ON THE CONTINUED TRAGEDY OF THE PEOPLE OF North & East of Tamil EELAM WITH THE HOPE OF ALL OF OUR ENDEAVOURS WOULD BRING AN END TO THOSE SUFFERING DURING THE YEAR AHEAD.
The International community has a duty towards the long suffering Sri Lankan Tamil population to restore their rights of SELF DETERMINATION.
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