Tuesday, 8 October 2013 00:48
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Australia and Canada differed over Sri Lanka’s hosting of next month’s Commonwealth Summit over human rights concerns, with Ottawa confirming the boycott yesterday while new Aussie Premier Tony Abbott says he has no intention of following its lead.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a statement on Monday, shortly before he met with Abbott in Bali, confirming his boycott of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
Premiers Harper and Abbott are on the Indonesian holiday island for the annual APEC leaders’ summit.
The two countries have a lot in common but they certainly do not see eye to eye on the CHOGM, due to start in Colombo on 10 November.
Harper said he’d hoped Sri Lanka would seize the opportunity presented by its selection as host to improve human rights conditions and move toward reconciliation and accountability after the country’s long-running and bloody civil war which ended in 2009. ”Unfortunately, this has not been the case,” Harper said.
“Canada is deeply concerned about the situation in Sri Lanka. The absence of accountability for the serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian standards during and after the civil war is unacceptable.”
Harper says he remains concerned about reports of intimidation and incarceration of political leaders and journalists, the harassment of minorities, disappearances, and even allegations of extrajudicial killings.
“Canada believes that if the Commonwealth is to remain relevant it must stand in defence of the basic principles of freedom, democracy, and respect for human dignity, which are the very foundation upon which the Commonwealth was built,” he said.
“It is clear that the Sri Lankan Government has failed to uphold the Commonwealth’s core values, which are cherished by Canadians.”
The Australian Prime Minister Abbott said Premier Harper’s decision was a matter for him. “But certainly I intend to attend CHOGM and will do my best to make a constructive contribution to the deliberations there,” he told reporters. The Prime Minister said the Commonwealth is an important forum and amongst Australia’s oldest international associations. “You do not make new friends by rubbishing your old friends or abandoning your old friends,” he said.
(The Australian)
