Lanka since there has been scant evidence of progress in political and human rights in
Sri Lanka. It criticized the FCO stating,
“What concerns us now is how the Government has come to find itself in this
position, and whether the FCO played its hand poorly, both in the discussions
which led to the decision that Sri Lanka would be the hosts in 2013.”
Demonstrations continue to be held by Tamil Diaspora organizations and individuals
around the world urging their governments to boycott the event and Sri Lanka.
IS THERE ANY GOOD REASON TO ATTEND CHOGM 2013?
Commonwealth leaders and other writers have expressed a number of reasons which
they believe make attendance at CHOGM 2013 necessary. These include the one often
noted by the British Prime Minister -- that of delivering a ‘tough message’ in person
to the Sri Lankan President. But the problem with that as stated by Sri Lankan Activist
Pakiasothy Saravanamuthu, the Director of the Center for Policy Alternatives, a Sri
Lanka based NGO is:
“Cameron is saying he will come and tell it like it is, but when and where...even
if he does, none of it will ever be made public. The current government is
willing to do “whatever necessary to hold the support of the Sinhala Buddhist
Constituency”
In the era of public diplomacy through statements and resolution, there is no merit in
taking the problem directly to the Sri Lankan President as it will have little impact.
We must consider that the crisis in Sri Lanka is not one that just concerns the
President but is instead a structural/political problem. The militarization and
colonization of Tamil areas, the disappearances engineered by the Security forces, the
intimidation of journalists are better addressed when Sri Lanka is shamed as a country
than by privately pointing problems out to the President.
The same argument of “constructive
engagement” was used in the South African context and proved to be a failure. It was
only after more direct measures and sanctions were imposed on Apartheid South
Africa that South Africa was forced to mend its ways.
As Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan stated in August 2010,
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