{"id":84359,"date":"2013-04-28T01:11:29","date_gmt":"2013-04-27T19:41:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=84359"},"modified":"2013-05-04T05:33:59","modified_gmt":"2013-05-04T00:03:59","slug":"canada-fury-at-sri-lanka-choice-for-commonwealth-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/canada-fury-at-sri-lanka-choice-for-commonwealth-talks\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada Fury At Sri Lanka Choice For Commonwealth Talks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Canada is “appalled” that Sri Lanka has been chosen to host the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in November, its foreign minister says.<\/strong><\/p>\n

John Baird<\/a><\/span> said Sri Lanka had failed in the fundamental Commonwealth<\/a><\/span> values of “freedom, democracy, human rights, the rule of law and good governance”.<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka dismissed Canada’s objections, saying Commonwealth members had agreed the summit could go ahead.<\/p>\n

\"John<\/a>

John Baird<\/p><\/div>\n

Sri Lanka’s army defeated Tamil rebels after a brutal 26-year war in 2009.<\/p>\n

The entire conflict left at least 100,000 people dead.<\/p>\n

Both sides were accused of human rights abuses throughout the conflict, with much focus on what happened in its final stages, when thousands of civilians were trapped in a thin strip of land in the north of Sri Lanka as fighting raged around them.<\/p>\n

Estimates of civilian deaths in the final months range widely from 9,000 to 75,000.<\/p>\n

‘Disruptive elements’<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mr Baird told the BBC’s Newshour: “Canada finds it appalling that the government in Colombo would be given the honour and the privilege and responsibility of hosting Commonwealth leaders.<\/p>\n

“The Commonwealth has fundamental values of freedom, democracy, human rights, the rule of law, good governance and the government in Colombo has failed in all of those respects.”<\/p>\n

He said there had been “little, if any, accountability since the war ended”.<\/p>\n

Mr Baird said: “We’ve seen no meaningful attempt at reconciliation with the Tamil population. If anything it’s getting worse.”<\/p>\n

He also said there was “a growing authoritarian trend” in Sri Lanka’s governance, adding: “These are all fundamentally at odds with Commonwealth values and we don’t think Sri Lanka should be hosting the Commonwealth.”<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka rejected Canada’s criticism.<\/p>\n

Responding to the foreign minister’s comments, Sri Lankan cabinet spokesman and Mass Media and Information Minister Keheliya Rambukwella<\/a><\/span> told the BBC: “We have dealt with this human rights issue and we feel they are very biased and very unfair.”<\/p>\n

Foreign ministry spokesman Rodney Perera told Agence France-Presse news agency: “Canada can say anything, but the others agree with the [Commonwealth] secretary-general that the summit can go ahead in Sri Lanka. We are working on the arrangements.”<\/p>\n

Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma<\/a><\/span> said that Sri Lanka had been discussed at a meeting in London on Friday but added: “No member of government has indicated remotely that it wishes to change the venue.”<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka’s state-run Daily News said “disruptive elements” had tried to remove Colombo as hosts with “trumped up charges of human rights abuses”, adding: “Obviously, this move did not succeed.”<\/p>\n

Last month the UN’s Human Rights Council passed a resolution highly critical of Sri Lanka’s record.<\/p>\n

The resolution encouraged Sri Lanka to conduct an independent and credible investigation into alleged war crimes.<\/p>\n

The Sri Lankan government commissioned its own investigation into the war in 2011.<\/p>\n

Its Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC<\/a><\/span>) cleared the military of allegations that it had deliberately attacked civilians. It said that there had been some violations by troops, although only at an individual level.<\/p>\n

Courtesy BBC Asia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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