Mahinda Under Strain At CHOGM, But Undeterred

If patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel, democracy is the first,” David Uren

President Mahinda Rajapaksa with an entourage of one hundred and eight arrived in Perth, Australia to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (CHOGM). This time the CHOGM centered on Sri Lanka and President Mahinda Rajapaksa, as the 54 countries had already been apprised of the Darusman Report at different fora and were expecting some form of reference to it.

Opening the CHOGM in Perth on the  October 28, Her Majesty the Queen of England said past CHOGM meetings had always looked to the future with vision and practicality.
“I wish heads of government well in agreeing further reforms that respond boldly to the aspirations of today and that keep the Commonwealth fresh and fit for tomorrow,” the Queen said. “In these deliberations, we should not forget that this is an association not only of governments but also of peoples – this is what makes it so relevant in this age of global information and communication,” she added.
She made pointed reference to the 11-member Commonwealth eminent persons group, which has pushed for radical reform of CHOGM which was sliding into irrelevance. She added that she looked forward to hearing the outcome of discussions on the group’s recommendations.
The Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard playing host at this Summit said the strength of the Commonwealth lay in its shared values, and in its ability to help member nations that fell short of meeting these values. She added that the organization could play a key role in addressing the world’s most pressing concerns, like climate change, financial stability and food security.
“The Commonwealth is vital to addressing these challenges, but also be a more agile Commonwealth, equipped to respond when our values are tested and to speak quickly when our voice needs to be heard,” added Ms. Gillard
The call comes amid an eminent persons’ group recommendation for a CHOGM human rights commissioner, which has support among the Commonwealth’s developed nations but is being challenged by smaller member states in addition to South Africa and India.
Sri Lanka is also under pressure from a host of Commonwealth member states, with the UK opposing its hosting of the next CHOGM, citing concerns over its conduct in the war against the Tamil Tigers and its treatment of refugees and the lack of effort towards reconciliation. What the Canadian Prime Minister said has been recorded well in advance
CHOGM opened amid an unprecedented security operation, with large numbers of police out in force across Perth and helicopters patrolling the skies above. Several hundred protesters as expected gathered at the Perth Convention Centre, where Commonwealth leaders were meeting.
They included anti-nuclear, refugee rights, actions against war criminals and environmental and anti-corporate greed movements.  A vociferous group of around 60 Tamils demanded the Commonwealth take action against Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, describing him as a “war criminal’’ who should be arrested for human rights abuses against their people.
A Tamil speaker, Yogan Tharma said. Rajapaksa had been given a “red carpet welcome” to CHOGM, but he was a war criminal who should be arrested. “His place is not in the parliament, it is behind barbed wires. Please Australia, put him into jail, do not send him back home,” he protested. Tharma standing in front of a banner showing dead and mutilated Tamil children, said he had lost 79 family members in the Sri Lankan civil war. A Tamil woman, called Ajanthy, said the Commonwealth does have power to address such atrocities, which had been used before to suspend four member nations – Nigeria, Fiji, Pakistan and Zimbabwe and should take similar action against Sri Lanka. “The crimes committed in Sri Lanka are far more serious and much larger in scale than those attributed to the four members who faced suspension,” she added. “We need Australians to support the suspension of Sri Lanka from the Commonwealth, we need to stop the genocide of Tamils and support the independence of Tamils,” she said.
Earlier this week, Federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland moved to quash a court case brought by a Melbourne resident against President Rajapaksa, which alleged he had committed war crimes and human rights violations.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard met President Rajapaksa in Perth earlier this week in the lead-up to CHOGM. The Australian media reported thus:  “Julia Gillard met the most controversial leader at CHOGM last night, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Their 45-minute meeting in Perth came as a split emerged among Commonwealth leaders over human rights. They are battling over a report written by 11 eminent people, including former High Court judge Michael Kirby, warning that the organization is in danger of becoming irrelevant unless it finds a better way to take action against human rights abuses by its own members.”
Britain, Australia and Canada are leading the push to create a Commonwealth Commissioner for Democracy, Human Rights and the Rule of law. Some say that this was a move prompted by the actions of Sri Lanka during the last stages of the war. But CHOGM makes decisions by consensus and there is fierce resistance from India, South Africa and some African countries, such as Uganda, and of course Sri Lanka which say it would be an intrusion into the actions of a sovereign state.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper had upset the Commonwealth tea party, well in advance. It is not limited to what he said that Sri Lanka’s human-rights record, so far, would make it an unfit host for the 2013 Commonwealth summit and he for one would not attend. Such statement made Sri Lanka something of an example for the future and for a broader debate on whether the Commonwealth will enforce standards on human rights and democracy amongst its member states.
Prime Minister Harper, like his colleagues from Britain, Australia and Malta, want to see the Commonwealth deal more decisively with countries engaged in repression and rights abuses. They want a human-rights and democracy commissioner, but as stated above, countries such as India and South Africa are opposed.
Harper’s threats that he might boycott Sri Lanka’s 2013 summit have worried even some who think like him, but Britain does not want this summit to be an argument over the next host. Current host Australia wants everyone to get along smoothly for obvious reasons. Prime Minister Julia Gillard, forced to discuss it, said allegations of abuses in Sri Lanka must be addressed, but the country’s role as the next host will not be revisited, and each member will decide on whether they will attend or do otherwise. She was due to have a “one on one” with Mahinda Rajapaksa on these issues.
It might seem that the Commonwealth’s stance on human rights will not change the world. It is not a treaty organization, or alliance, or the UN. Its only sanction is chucking a country out from the membership. But countries obviously want to be part of the club. Those that were suspended, like South Africa for apartheid and Pakistan for a coup, made every effort to get back in and they did. So though largely lame they all want to remain part of the club. Now Sri Lanka wants to avoid even a hint that it might eventually face the same fate.
Sri Lanka under President Rajapaksa, denies abuses and war crimes, but a UN panel found, according to them, credible allegations of shelling of hospitals, killing of surrendees and post-war torture of displaced people in camps. A joy ride to Colombo in 2013 if nothing changes would be ridiculous, said Tory Senator Hugh Segal, a member of the Commonwealth Eminent-persons panel on reforms. “You cannot have thousands of people disappear at the end of a war without having some kind of close-focus assessment of what transpired,” he said. . “It would be a terrible shame if we let it fall apart because it became completely irrelevant and disconnected,” Mr. Segal said.
That issue is now mixed into the debate about the Commonwealth’s future, about a more active role in addressing coups and repression, rather than waiting for a summit every two years simply to consider expulsion.
Their opponents – India, South Africa and Sri Lanka and also some Commonwealth-lovers predicted it will die without reforms. It has never been the world’s most potent organization, but Canada usually liked it enough because it has a pretty high profile in discussions with the 54 leaders. But prime Minister Harper feels if it cannot ask about torture and oppression in its midst, more than every two years, it will not meet 21st-century standards of usefulness when there are six other summits a year which would do so. Canada has the largest number of immigrants from the Tamil community who fled Sri Lanka since the early eighties and Harper feels there will be no point in having tea parties in Colombo in 2013.
Australia refused a request to remove Mr. Rajapaksa’s diplomatic immunity and lay war crime charges against him, but Ms Gillard did call on Sri Lanka to answer “serious questions”.  Ms Gillard is in an embarrassing position as the CHOGM apart from voicing concerns is not mandated to do anything further and she certainly does not want to have a blemish at this summit. “We have consistently raised our concerns about human rights questions in the end stage of the conflict,” she said. “These need to be addressed by Sri Lanka through its Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission.”
Ms Gillard and Foreign Affairs Minister Kevin Rudd both said there were no plans to strip Sri Lanka of the role of hosting the next CHOGM in 2013. President Rajapaksa has vehemently denied that Sri Lanka had violated international norms and that the LLRC report would be ready and made available by November 18, 2011. Coincidentally it is also the birthday of Mahinda and the date when the judgement on the White Flag case will be given after a trial at bar where General Sarath Fonseka is the accused.
The British Prime Minister said it should show it could be an ‘’organization for the future’’ after a high-level internal report by an eminent group of people warned it risked becoming “irrelevant” unless it stood up more publicly to abuses amongst its members.  He also expressed confidence that the 16 Commonwealth nations which have the Queen as head of state would agree to scrap royal succession laws which give precedence to sons over first-born daughters.
When asked whether the Commonwealth is past its time, he said: ‘’It is an organization for the future. We live in a world of networks and this is a great network: a third of the world’s population, 54 different countries across six continents. But not just a network, a network with values about promoting human rights and democracy and freedom. And we are going to be strengthening those values at this heads of government conference because of the very good work which has been done over the past year.’’
Cameron was referring to a series of recommendations made by the Eminent Persons Group, whose UK representative Sir Malcolm Rifkind had earlier warned that the Commonwealth faced a ‘’crisis’’ without urgent reform. Among controversial proposals to be debated is that homosexuality should be legalized in all member states where it is outlawed.
There looks to be agreement however on changing the succession laws to ensure that if the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s first child is a girl, she would be next in line to the throne after her father.  The British are also confident of securing support from the 15 other countries where the Queen is head of state for scrapping the bar to the monarchy of anyone who marries a Catholic. ‘’These rules are outdated and need to change,’’ Mr. Cameron said as he arrived at the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
The proposed change requires the approval of all 16 Commonwealth ‘’realms’’; the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, Antigua, the Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, Belize, St. Christopher and Nevis, St. Lucia, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Papua New Guinea.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa said his government was working to repair the divisions caused by the recent civil war. He claimed that many former combatants have been released and reintegrated into the community. “We await the submission next month of the report of the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission – a home grown institution which I appointed to help leave behind us the pain and anguish of the past and guide the nation towards the era of peace and prosperity,” he said.
But there is growing international pressure on Sri Lanka to undertake a transparent investigation into allegations of human rights abuses by the country’s army. The UN and some western nations are spearheading this movement.
Rajapaksa said he was also looking forward to welcoming delegates to the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which will be hosted in Sri Lanka, despite calls for it to be boycotted. Sri Lanka is due to host the meeting in 2013, but some countries are threatening to boycott it because of allegations of human rights abuses. Rajapaksa used this year’s gathering in Perth to invite delegates to attend the next meeting. Using all his charm he said, “Come to Sri Lanka in 2013 when the next CHOGM will be held in Colombo, I firmly believe that it will be a memorable experience for you.”
Amnesty International chief Salil Shetty criticized Commonwealth nations for allowing Sri Lanka to have hosting rights with the war crimes issue unresolved. “Allowing Sri Lanka to head the Commonwealth runs contrary to these values and threatens to derail the organization’s commitment to human rights.” Australia’s foreign minister Kevin Rudd says the next meeting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government will go ahead in Sri Lanka in 2013, but he concedes that some nations may boycott it.
So it is on the 18th of November 2011 that the LLRC report will be made available. It will be on the 18th of November that Mahinda Rajapaksa will celebrate his birthday. On the 18th of November the judgement against Sarath Fonseka in the White Flag case will be announced. If one recalls, the Presidential elections were also held on the 18th of November.