{"id":20824,"date":"2013-05-01T19:27:23","date_gmt":"2013-05-01T23:27:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=20824"},"modified":"2013-05-02T00:30:45","modified_gmt":"2013-05-02T04:30:45","slug":"canada-delivers-diplomatic-equivalent-of-a-slap-in-the-face-to-sri-lanka-ottawa-citizen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=20824","title":{"rendered":"Canada Delivers Diplomatic Equivalent of a Slap in the Face to Sri Lanka -Ottawa Citizen"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the biggest insults a government can deliver to another \u2014 the diplomatic equivalent of a slap in the face \u2014 is for the leader of one country to refuse to attend a high profile gathering hosted by another. Well, Canada has just slapped Sri Lanka.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"HJB050113\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Canadian Foreign Minister Baird greets Tamil protesters outside CMAG-pic courtesy of: twitter.com\/SLCampaign<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Late last week in London, Foreign Minister John Baird denounced a decision by his Commonwealth counterparts to approve Sri Lanka hosting the organization\u2019s heads of government meeting in November. The Commonwealth, he said, was \u201caccommodating evil\u201d in agreeing to stage the meeting in the South Asian country despite strong criticism of its human rights record.
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\n\u201cCanada didn\u2019t get involved in the Commonwealth to accommodate evil; we came to combat it,\u201d Baird said. \u201cWe are deeply disappointed that Sri Lanka appears poised to take on this leadership role.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

This is strong language in diplomatic circles. But it is the right language in this case. Canada\u2019s position is more than justified. Sri Lanka\u2019s treatment of its Tamil minority during and after the country\u2019s 2009 civil war has been appalling; there is considerable evidence that government troops have engaged in the indiscriminate killing of civilians.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has repeatedly spoken out against Sri Lanka\u2019s actions, warning that Canada, one of the senior and most influential members of the Commonwealth, would boycott the November 15-17 heads of government meeting in the capital of Colombo unless Sri Lanka acts, among other items, to improve its human rights record and seeks reconciliation with the Tamil population.<\/p>\n

Publicly, Canada has been alone in its position. This is most unfortunate. The Commonwealth, comprised of mainly former colonies of the British Empire, represents two billion people worldwide, and while the 54-nation group is no longer as influential as it used to be, it remains a valuable institution in terms of linking diverse nations and peoples. The apparent unwillingness of its leaders to do the right thing, to show some moral backbone, jeopardizes the organization\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

Baird alluded to this possibility. \u201cWe\u2019re tremendously concerned about the deteriorating and authoritative trend of the government in Sri Lanka,\u201d he said, suggesting Canada\u2019s isolation on the issue paints the Commonwealth as a whole in a bad light. (Although he was careful to say Canada will not quit the organization.)<\/p>\n

To add insult to injury, as host of the heads of government gathering, Sri Lanka automatically becomes the leader of the Commonwealth for the two-year period between summits. Just last month Queen Elizabeth attached her name to a Commonwealth charter that obliges all members to subscribe to principles of human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Having a government that blatantly represses its minority population take charge of the organization makes a mockery of the charter and, moreover, erodes any claims to moral authority the body might still possess.<\/p>\n

But then the whole situation reeks of hypocrisy. Even senior Commonwealth members \u2014 the United Kingdom, Australia, and India, for example \u2014 appear to think principles only apply when they don\u2019t intrude on purported national self-interest. The Australians don\u2019t want to offend the Sri Lankan government lest it decides to no longer clamp down on all those boat people trying to flee to Australia. India is concerned about Sri Lanka developing closer ties with its arch-enemy China. The United Kingdom is, no doubt, reluctant to offend a former colony and jeopardize allegiance to the Crown.<\/p>\n

To be sure, even the Conservative government may not be completely pristine in its principles. Canada is home to the largest population of Tamils outside Sri Lanka, and, while the government insists its position is not politically motivated, there\u2019s no denying its attitude is popular in that community.<\/p>\n

But any indulgence in self-interest on the part of the Conservative government, if that\u2019s what it is, pales in comparison to the short-sightedness of other Commonwealth members. In 2011, at the last Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Australia, a report urging radical reform of the body \u2014 the Eminent Persons\u2019 Report \u2014 was tabled. Among its recommendations was a call for greater respect for human rights, more recognition of minorities, and the promotion of democratic principles. Unfortunately, these principles received short shrift from a majority of the Commonwealth members.<\/p>\n

That see-no-evil attitude continues to play out on the Sri Lanka file, resulting in a crisis for the Commonwealth reminiscent of the suspension of Zimbabwe or the booting out of South Africa over the apartheid practices of its former white-minority rulers. The collective failure of its leaders to assert principles they\u2019ve signed on to corrodes the moral structure of this venerable organization. And without the pillars of moral authority to hold it up, well, there\u2019s no worthy future for the Commonwealth.<\/p>\n

In a world already desperate for institutions of stability and order, the effective loss of the Commonwealth would betragic.<\/p>\n

(Text of an Editorial Appearing in “Ottawa Citizen”of May 1st 2013 under the Heading “A Rebuke to Sri Lanka)<\/p>\n

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One of the biggest insults a government can deliver to another \u2014 the diplomatic equivalent of a slap in the face \u2014 is for the leader of one country to refuse to attend a high profile gathering hosted by another. Well, Canada has just slapped Sri Lanka. Canadian Foreign Minister Baird greets Tamil protesters outside …<\/p>\n

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