Commonwealth

( President Sirisena at Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Malta) The Prime Minister held talks with President Sirisena of Sri Lanka at the Commonwealth Summit in Malta yesterday, and announced a significant increase in UK support for reconciliation and human rights. £6.6 million to support Sri Lankan reconciliation, military reform and displaced persons. […]

[ Kamalesh Sharma with PM Ranil Wickremesinghe ] The Government is considering the full implementation of the recommendations of the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma said. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa refused to fully implement the recommendations of the LLRC and that resulted in some countries accusing Sri Lanka of […]

Sri Lanka Presidential Election 2015 Interim Statement –  Commonwealth Observer Group Statement by: Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, Chair of the Commonwealth Observer Group The Commonwealth Observer Group commends the people of Sri Lanka for the spirit in which they participated in this important election. The high voter turnout of 81.52 per cent reflects positively on the […]

[CW election observers in Sri Lanka, Sep 2013] Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma has reiterated that ”the people of Sri Lanka should be able to freely exercise their franchise, in an enabling environment marked by transparency, a level playing field, and adherence to the laws and norms that govern a credible and peaceful election. For this, key […]

Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma has called for scaling down Sri Lankan Army’s role in the war—ravaged northern province to address the “legitimate concerns” of the Tamil population. “The steps that needed to be taken to empower the people affected by the conflict include addressing legitimate concerns about restricted and monitored movement of both the […]

Samaraweera: Sharma, act now ”We recall that you promised Sri Lanka would put plans in place to change its legislative procedures to remove senior judges within weeks of a key meeting of a Commonwealth Ministers Grouping (CMAG) in April last year. We were further encouraged by your announcement that the Commonwealth Secretariat will assist Sri […]

Sharma is not a baby, says mangala United National Party (UNP) parliamentarian Mangala Samaraweera said today the Hambantota incident was further evidence of the violation of the Commonwealth Charter and urged Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma to remove President Mahinda Rajapaksa from the post of Commonwealth Chairman. “Mahinda Rajapaksa is not Gaddafi. He is the […]

‘Latimar House principles a necessity, beneficial to Lanka UNP MP Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe yesterday claimed that some UPFA ministers didn’t know what was good for the country as well as the government.President’s Counsel Rajapakshe said that he was dismayed by the UPFA’s opposition to his motion seeking consensus on the removal of judges, of the Supreme […]

Photo: Earanga Jayawardena/AP The Sri Lanka Campaign  The Commonwealth Summit has now ended. It was broadly seen as a complete disaster for both the Commonwealth and Sri Lanka.Only 27 of the 53 invited Heads of Government attended. 23 nations sent lesser representation (Antigua, Sierra Leone, Botswana, Canada, Mauritius, St Lucia, Malawi, Belize, Dominica, Jamaica, Cameroon, […]

Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake. Impeachment of Chief Justice:SC denies foreign lawyers, HR group permission to appear The Supreme Court yesterday refused applications by the Commonwealth Bar Association and the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales. They had sought to appear as amici curiae to inform Court on the Constitutional Act of 2005 of the […]

Sir Ronald Sanders KCMG AM is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies and a former Caribbean diplomat ”If the Summit in Sri Lanka is to be meaningful, Heads of Government must set up machinery to address this issue urgently and credibly. It will call for careful diplomatic stage-managing by the Secretary-General, […]

Pprotests banned in Sri Lanka With the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) just around the corner, Sri Lanka in general, and Colombo in particular has gone a bit mad getting things ready for the visit of the world’s great and good (minus Canada).  In Colombo especially it feels a little bit like living in […]

As the organisation faces criticism over its forthcoming Sri Lanka summit, major donors are pulling funds due to concerns over its direction A billboard advertising the forthcoming Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka’s captial, Colombo Photo: GETTY IMAGES By Damien McElroy and Steven Swinford Britain has pulled funds from the Commonwealth over concerns about its leadership and […]

Hugh Segal accuses Kamalesh Sharma of defending regime accused of human rights abuses, intensifying row over summit Robert Booth, and Jason Burke in Delhi /The Guardian,   Commonwealth secretary general, Kamalesh Sharma. Photograph: Akira Suemori/Associated Press Canada has launched a direct assault on the authority of the Commonwealth secretary general, attacking him as a stooge […]

Harper: GoSL failed to uphold  Commonwealth’s core values Prime Minister Stephen Harper today issued the following statement:“When Sri Lanka was selected to host the 2013 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Canada was hopeful that the Sri Lankan government would seize the opportunity to improve human rights conditions and take steps towards reconciliation and accountability. Unfortunately, […]

The war in Sri Lanka is not over by Shivam Vij Shivam Vij It would not be an exaggeration to say that the recent Northern Provincial Council polls in Sri Lanka would not have been held had it not been for the immense pressure that Colombo faced from New Delhi. But for international pressure, Colombo […]

Sri Lanka’s disturbing human rights record means it should be barred from hosting a key Commonwealth summit in November or chairing the organization, Amnesty International said ahead of a key meeting of Commonwealth foreign ministers today.The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group – made up of foreign ministers and Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma, who gather to address violations […]

Shirani Bandaranayake has denied all corruption charges ”THE Commonwealth’s secretariat has been accused of covering up a damning report that described the impeachment of Sri Lanka’s most senior judge as “unlawful” and “unconstitutional”.The revelations will add to concerns about the human rights record of the island, which is controversially hosting this November’s summit for the […]

 The Sri Lankan government still denies responsibility forthe killing of up to 70,000 Tamil civilians at the end of the civil war in 2009. So why has it been chosen to host a Commonwealth summit asks Callum Macrae, director of a harrowing film about the massacre Two young girls caught up in the shelling … […]

Canadian foreign minister criticises Sri Lanka’s ‘appalling’ record, authoritarianism and failure to tackle rights abuses John Baird, Canada’s foreign minister, said he was stunned that Colombo was not facing censure for its behaviour. Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images The Canadian government has launched a blistering attack on Sri Lanka‘s “appalling” record on democratic accountability as the […]

While millions of people in Sri Lanka are struggling for survival and the cost of living keeps on soaring, the Government is to spend a staggering Rs. 1,930 million for the Commonwealth Summit to be held here in November.The Government had waged an international battle to ensure that the summit was held here amid widespread […]

A six-member Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) delegation representing the UK Parliament visited Sri Lanka last week, on the invitation of the Sri Lankan Government. However, they were disappointed that neither President Mahinda Rajapaksa nor Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, could meet them.According the British High Commission, a meeting with the Defence Secretary was scheduled, but due […]

The Committee to Protect Journalists has voiced concerns about press accreditation procedures for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting that will be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka in November 2013. In the following letter to the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Secretariat Kamalesh Sharma, the CPJ’s Executive Director Joel Simon voiced his concerns.Kamalesh SharmaSecretary-GeneralThe Commonwealth SecretariatMarlborough HousePall […]

Commonwealth people’s forum can enhance government’s credibilityJehan PereraThe significance of international pressure in directing the government along the path of good governance can be seen in several recent developments. As a member country of the international community, Sri Lanka has many obligations to fulfill, even as it seeks the benefits of being a member of […]

Samaraveera (UNP) challenges Sharma H.E. Kamalesh Sharma, Secretary-General, The Commonwealth,  Your Excellency,I am writing to you with reference to a news item published in the Sri Lanka Daily Mirror of 29th June 2013. The story, captioned ‘Commonwealth wants to make practical difference in Sri Lanka’ quotes a letter you have reportedly sent to an unspecified […]

The conduct of NPC polls figured somewhat prominently when Economic Development Minister, Basil Rajapaksa held talks with Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid in New Delhi on Friday. For months now, a diplomatic tussle over a visit to New Delhi by Basil Rajapaksa and or one by Khurshid to Colombo had gone on. Sri Lanka […]

Holding the Commonwealth summit in Colombo, without proven commitment from the Sri Lankan Government to the values and principles of democracy, would grant the Commonwealth seal of approval to an emerging dictatorship in Asia, warns Mangala Samaraweera, former Foreign Minister and United National Party (UNP) Parliamentarian.Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma was quoted in the Daily Mirror […]

Funeral of two fishermen killed Attempted assault on Ranil, attack on UNP councillors under investigation Two separate investigations are under way over the attempted assault on Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and the attack on two UNP local council members this week as they prepared to visit families whose members had been killed by last Saturday’s […]

With the official announcement that Prime Minister David Cameron and Foreign Secretary William Hague will attend the CHOGM in Colombo, the British Government has hurriedly put together its official position. In the absence of Premier Cameron, who was away in the United States, his deputy Nick Clegg fielded questions in the House of Commons. However, […]

Commonwealth Secy-Gen meets Sri Lanka’s HRC delegation “The goal of the Commonwealth’s partnership with the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka is to support Sri Lanka’s national efforts and plans to provide access for all its citizens to a life of dignity and opportunity in keeping with the values of the Commonwealth” – Sharma Commonwealth […]