The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Staff Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Perry Christie is in Sri Lanka for a controversial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting today amid international calls for a boycott against the host country.

Mr Christie’s visit also comes on the heels of a new report on threats against civil society in Sri Lanka. It warns of the abduction and assassination of activists and journalists.

According to The Guardian of London, British Prime Minister David Cameron plans to raise claims at the summit, and has challenged fellow leaders to call for accountability on all human rights issues, specifically allegations that at least 40,000 Tamils were killed by Sri Lankan security forces in 2009.

Last night, Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell could not be reached for comment on the government’s position on the issue.

The report – “Sri Lanka’s Harassed Civil Society” – was released Monday by international civil society alliance group CIVICUS, and the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), an independent research and advocacy group, on Monday.

Findings outline restrictions on freedom of speech, specifically democratic dissent, by harassment, intimidation, and violence; failures by authorities to investigate attacks against journalists, activists and dissidents; and increasing surveillance and government control of civil society organizations, most notably in the Northern province.

Channel 4 News, a network that was formerly banned from the country for its reporting on the extensive allegations, has reportedly had its movement blocked repeatedly by pro-government protesters.

The network claims that since arriving on the island on Tuesday, reporters have been barred from travelling to the north of the island and former conflict zone, Kilinochchi.

CHOGM is held every two years to allow for policy discussion and agenda setting for Commonwealth leaders on global and related issues.

The Commonwealth’s decision to host the summit in Sir Lanka has been heavily criticized as hypocritical of its collective missive, given long standing calls for investigations into alleged human rights abuses during it’s 26-year Civil War.

The Sri Lankan Civil War began in 1983 as an insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam, who fought to create an independent Tamil state at the north and east of the island.

The separatist militant organization, known as LTTE or the Tamil Tigers, was labelled as a terrorist group by some 32 countries, due to tactics used against government forces. However, the Sri Lankan government has also been accused of serious human rights abuses and violations, specifically during the final months of the war when government forces reportedly killed up to 40,000 Tamil civilians by widespread shelling, and denying humanitarian aid.

In 2011, a United Nations Panel concluded that reports were credible, as were allegations that the LTTE used civilians as human shields, and killed people in an attempt to escape the war zone.

In September, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights charged that there had been no comprehensive Sri Lankan effort to properly and independently investigate allegations of war crimes, adding that an international probe would be established unless there was “credible progress by March 2014”.

The allegations of war crimes were also highlighted at the last CHOGM in Perth in 2011.

CIVICUS Secretary-General, Dr Danny Sriskandarajah said: “It is a shame that the Commonwealth has chosen to meet in a country in which one of its so-called core values is under such serious threat. We urge those leaders who have decided to attend the summit to push for urgent action from the Sri Lankan authorities to improve the situation immediately.”

Dr Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, Executive Director of the CPA, said: “The space for CSOs to operate in Sri Lanka is under threat now more than ever. The governmental restrictions and attacks on civic space present a grave challenge to governance and reconciliation for the people of Sri Lanka post-2009. As our research demonstrates the aggressive suppression of CSOs through intimidatory tactics is of huge concern for the future of democracy in our country.”

The full report can be found at civicus.org

In his welcome address, Sri Lanka president Mahinda Rajapaksa underscored the nation’s “tremendous transformation” following its brutal war against terrorism in 2009.

He said the country was committed to upholding Commonwealth values of “democracy, rule of law and good governance in the shared vision of bringing better opportunities for people around the world.”

While Canada has totally boycotted this week’s proceedings, leaders from India and Mauritius have sent a foreign minister in their stead.

India’s Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid has denied that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s absence was cause by domestic political pressure. India, the Commonwealth’s largest member, has 62 million ethnic Tamils in its southern state of Tamil Nadu.

This year’s meeting is also the first time that Queen Elizabeth II will not be present at the CHOGM in 40 years; however, it was reported that the 87-year-old monarch has curtailed travel due to age. Charles, Prince of Wales, will represent the Crown.