Gillard rules out Sri Lanka CHOGM boycott

26 October 2011 07:10 am - 1 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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Prime Minister Julia Gillard says there are no plans to relocate the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which is set to be held in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka is due to host the forum in 2013, but some leaders are concerned about the country's human rights record.

Former prime minister Malcolm Fraser has called for the meeting to be deferred until the country deals with allegations of human rights abuses and war crimes from its decades-long civil war which ended in 2009.

Canada has foreshadowed it could boycott the next CHOGM if Sri Lanka does not respond appropriately to the allegations.

Ms. Gillard says the issue does need to be properly resolved.

"There's no intention to revisit the question of hosting the next CHOGM meeting," she said.

"On the question of human rights abuses and allegations of those abuses in Sri Lanka, the Government's position is we have have consistently raised our concerns about human rights questions in the end stage of the conflict.

"These need to be addressed by Sri Lanka."

Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd has again urged Sri Lanka to confront the allegations.

"You will note statements already made by various prime ministers on this matter, including the Canadian prime minister," he said.

"It will be a matter for individual governments, but I think our friends in Sri Lanka are mindful that there are a range of views on this across the Commonwealth, and as I said, the agenda makes it possible for individual governments to raise these matters both in the next two days but also when the heads of government meet as well."

Ms. Gillard is set to meet Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa later today to discuss claims of human rights abuses.

Meanwhile, the International Commission of Jurists Australia says it has given fresh evidence of Sri Lankan civil war crimes to the Australian Federal Police.

The organisation has joined with the New South Wales Greens in calling for the issue to be raised by Ms. Gillard when she meets Mr Rajapaksa.

Both parties have also asked for Sri Lanka to be suspended from the Commonwealth.

Commonwealth changes
Leaders from the 54 Commonwealth member countries have started arriving in Perth for this year's CHOGM, but foreign ministers are already there for a two-day meeting.

They are considering two reports on ways the Commonwealth can change, including stepping in earlier if democracy is under threat in a member nation.

Senior officials met until the early hours of this morning on a draft communique, but have now referred the sticking points to the foreign ministers' meeting.

A spokesman will not give details about disagreements, saying the issue is mostly about the language rather than the content.

The final decision, including whether to set up a commissioner for democracy and human rights, will be taken by the leaders on the weekend.

Mr. Rudd says Australia backs the idea of early intervention, saying the Commonwealth could be involved sooner rather than acting after a crisis happens.

"There is potency to the argument that there is a danger in the Commonwealth simply being reactive rather than proactive," he said.
Blunt instrument

"That is, once a military coup occurs, then the one blunt instrument available to the Commonwealth is one of suspension or expulsion.

"On the pre-emptive diplomacy side, there may be other means that we can deploy, other engagements which can occur if it is identified by the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) that real difficulties are emerging which may point in that direction.

"However, how other foreign ministers respond to CMAG, the group's own recommendations for reform, will be determined in the days ahead."

At the moment the Commonwealth's main power is to suspend a nation after a breach of democracy, like the military coup in Fiji.

The economic crisis in Europe will also dominate the two-day foreign ministers' meeting.

Mr. Rudd says what happens in Europe shapes what happens everywhere and is of fundamental relevance.

"I think it would be unusual in the extreme for 50 or so heads of government gathered in Perth, including the prime minister's of the United Kingdom and others, not to be on the record on the importance of Europe dealing with the crisis which we are all too familiar with in this room," he said. (Source: ABC News)

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Comments - 1

AMG Wednesday, 26 October 2011 07:23 PM

Thank you Gillard!

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Gillard rules out Sri Lanka CHOGM boycott

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