David Cameron to attend CHOGM
4 May 2013 04:25 am
David Cameron will attend the Commonwealth Summit in No
vember despite serious divisions within the organisation over the human rights record of Sri Lanka, the host government.
Calls on Mr. Cameron to boycott the event risked an embarrassing split with Buckingham Palace, had the Queen travelled to the meeting as the Commonwealth’s head.
The organisation decided at its last meeting two years ago to hold the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka this year but many states have since been dismayed by
Sri Lanka's failure to heed calls for reform.
In particular Colombo has come under fire for its failure to promote reconciliation with the Tamil minority in the aftermath of the vicious civil war that ended in 2010.
Officials said yesterday that Mr. Cameron had decided to make a robust stand in person against Sri Lanka’s human rights record and attacks on its democratic standards by its authoritarian president, Mahinda Rajapaksa.
“We do not think that turning away from the problem is the best way to make progress in Sri Lanka. There’s nothing to suggest that not going will convince Rajapaksa he must do more,” said a government spokesman.
(The Telegraph)