Sri Lanka’s high commissioner to Britain has blamed criticism of his country’s human rights record on a “proxy propaganda war” being carried out by those who funded the nation’s “terrorist conflict.”
The prime ministers of Canada, Mauritius and India have withdrawn from the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, or CHOGM, beginning in Colombo on Friday, amid concerns about the rights situation in Sri Lanka after its 28-year civil war with separatist Tamil rebels.
Speaking to CNN’s Fred Pleitgen for the “Amanpour” show on the eve of the summit, Chris Nonis said he was unsurprised by the criticism.
“One has to understand that there’s a tremendous influence from those who funded the terrorist conflict who are now carrying out, really, a proxy propaganda war.
“What we realize is that over the years -- as people realize the wonderful reconciliation, rehabilitation and reconstruction program that we are carrying out in Sri Lanka -- that gradually that proxy propaganda war will lose its currency and, in that context, I think it’s entirely right and fitting that we should host the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting,” he said.
“There’s a huge dichotomy of disjuncture between what is said abroad in terms of criticism and lack of rights and the freedom and the justice and equality that people are experiencing here.”
The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 53 nations that initially formed out of what had been the British Empire. Its charter focuses on developing “free and democratic societies and the promotion of peace and prosperity to improve the lives of all peoples of the Commonwealth.”
Heads of member governments meet every two years.
International investigation
Asked about calls for an independent, international investigation into alleged war crimes -- a call repeated by British Foreign Secretary William Hague when he met his Sri Lankan counterpart on the sidelines of the meeting this week -- Nonis responded:
“We don’t need an international investigation when we have had a vibrant civilization for 2,500 years. We have perfectly educated people and I think we’re perfectly capable of carrying out our own domestic inquiry.”
Nonis said the leaders not attending the conference represent three of the five countries that are home to Sri Lanka’s largest, wealthiest and strongest diaspora communities.
“Each country, each leader has their domestic political considerations. We understand that. After all, they’re politicians,” he said.
He described UK opposition leader Ed Miliband’s call for Sri Lanka to be stripped of its chairmanship of the Commonwealth as “extremely silly” and uninformed, saying his country had made “enormous progress” since its war ended in May 2009.
“We cherish the principles of democracy and development -- the twin pillars of the Commonwealth,” Nonis said. “We are a very decent, very human group of people. We’ve had a terrible conflict with the terrorists -- finally the people of Sri Lanka are free,” CNN reports.
