The British government minister responsible for Commonwealth matters has vigorously defended the UK’s decision to attend a summit of Commonwealth leaders in Sri Lanka in November. The Minister, Hugo Swire, was responding to calls for Britain to boycott or downgrade its representation because of concerns about the host country, Sri Lanka, which is facing allegations of war crimes, criticism of its human rights record and the summary dismissal of the former Chief Justice. Canada has already announced that its Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, will not be going in protest at the decision to hold the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo.
Mr. Swire told the Commonwealth Journalists Association in London that the government was aware of the controversy over Sri Lanka hosting the meeting and said, “We will not be going with blindfolds on.” He agreed that the issue of Sri Lanka hosting the annual summit this year was a thorny one. “If we only talked to our friends we would not be very active.”
He said that Sri Lanka achieved chairmanship for next two years at a previous summit in Trinidad and Tobago and the decision was endorsed in Perth in 2011. Mr. Swire emphasized that the UK’s presence at CHOGM was not intended to bathe the Rajapakse government in a golden light. He said the UK would raise points of concern such as disappearances and other unacceptable things taking place in Sri Lanka. He said the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, would be travelling to the Tamil-dominated north during his visit. This would make him the first foreign head of government to visit the region since the bitter ethnic war ended in 2009. The Sri Lankan government is facing charges of war crimes during the last stage of the conflict when the UN estimates up to 40,000 civilians may have been killed.
Mr. Swire said the British delegation would be accompanied by a press corps and they would report the picture as they saw it. He said Britain would discuss progress which had been made such as the elections in the north and in mine-clearing but would also highlight concerns about disappearances and the suppression of media freedom and human rights.
Mr. Swire said the British government was going to Sri Lanka to support the Prince of Wales who will be representing the Queen, the location was incidental. Mr. Swire underlined that the government saw the meeting as an opportunity for Commonwealth leaders to meet and discuss developments which affected all member countries. “We will make the point that the meeting is about the Commonwealth and not just Sri Lanka.” He said Britain wished to discuss issues such as development in the post-2015 era. He said other topics would be raised on the margins of the summit including worries about the disputed Presidential election in the Maldives and Gambia’s decision to withdraw from the Commonwealth.
When asked what Britain would consider to be the best outcome of the summit in Colombo, Mr. Swire said he hoped the press would be given free and unfettered access and questions about the disappearance of journalists would be addressed; that pledges made on reconciliation and reconstruction would be fulfilled; light would be thrown on Sri Lanka’s adherence to the Commonwealth Charter and we would see a flourishing northern province under its newly-installed provincial government. Mr. Swire said he thought the Commonwealth summit to be less controversial than expected. He said Sri Lanka would be aware that the world’s eyes would be on it and would want to cast itself in a good light. He said Britain would report on what it found – good and bad. He ended with the question – what would be gained by Britain not attending the summit?
