The palm-flecked island nation of Sri Lanka plays host this week to leaders from dozens of Commonwealth nations at a summit it hopes will generate enough good will and photo opportunities to eclipse three decades of grim history — massive civilian deaths, persistent media harassment and gangster-style politics.
Instead, as Friday's opening approaches, global focus remains trained on the country's 27-year civil war and alleged atrocities committed by both rebels and soldiers who, despite a sustained international outcry, have been spared from investigations and prosecutions since the war ended in 2009.
The leaders of Canada and India are boycotting the summit. Others have had to justify their plans to attend by promising to bring Sri Lanka's government to task. Queen Elizabeth II, who is 87, is not going, but her son, Prince Charles, is presiding over the meeting.
"It's a shame the Commonwealth has come to this," said former Caribbean diplomat Sir Ronald Sanders, now part of a Commonwealth panel charged with recommending reforms in the organization. Choosing Sri Lanka as a summit venue, which gives it the Commonwealth chairmanship for two years, "suggests we are not serious about Commonwealth values. ... That makes it a hypocritical organization."
Sri Lanka denies any rights abuses were committed by its forces. It balks at demands for an independent investigation. It accuses journalists of fabricating allegations of atrocities, and stands staunchly by a clan-like government that has alarmed many democracies in the West. President Mahinda Rajapaksa's family has held a vice-like grip on power since 2005, with one Rajapaksa brother serving as the economy minister, another holding the defense secretary title and a third serving as speaker in a parliament firmly controlled by Rajapaksa's coalition. Full story...
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Instead, as Friday's opening approaches, global focus remains trained on the country's 27-year civil war and alleged atrocities committed by both rebels and soldiers who, despite a sustained international outcry, have been spared from investigations and prosecutions since the war ended in 2009.
The leaders of Canada and India are boycotting the summit. Others have had to justify their plans to attend by promising to bring Sri Lanka's government to task. Queen Elizabeth II, who is 87, is not going, but her son, Prince Charles, is presiding over the meeting.
"It's a shame the Commonwealth has come to this," said former Caribbean diplomat Sir Ronald Sanders, now part of a Commonwealth panel charged with recommending reforms in the organization. Choosing Sri Lanka as a summit venue, which gives it the Commonwealth chairmanship for two years, "suggests we are not serious about Commonwealth values. ... That makes it a hypocritical organization."
Sri Lanka denies any rights abuses were committed by its forces. It balks at demands for an independent investigation. It accuses journalists of fabricating allegations of atrocities, and stands staunchly by a clan-like government that has alarmed many democracies in the West. President Mahinda Rajapaksa's family has held a vice-like grip on power since 2005, with one Rajapaksa brother serving as the economy minister, another holding the defense secretary title and a third serving as speaker in a parliament firmly controlled by Rajapaksa's coalition. Full story...
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