Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting

Lord Wallace of Saltaire Excerpts

Wednesday 5th October 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made concerning the holding of the 2013 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka.

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire]

My Lords, the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2009 decided that Sri Lanka should host in 2013. We, together with other Commonwealth members, urge Sri Lanka, as host, to demonstrate its commitment to upholding the Commonwealth values of human rights, good governance and the rule of law. A key part of that will be to address long-standing issues about accountability and reconciliation after the recent conflict. We have made that clear, and we expect to see progress by the end of the year.

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark]

I thank the noble Lord for his response. Given the devastating UN report on the final days of the war which has been submitted to the Human Rights Council of the UN, alleging that war crimes were committed, does he accept that the British Government should go to Perth and state clearly that, until those matters are looked into properly and investigated independently, it would be wrong for Sri Lanka to host the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2013?

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire]

My Lords, I am aware that the Canadian Prime Minister has been reported as saying that Canada will not go. I have looked carefully at what he said, and he actually said that if there was not an improvement, it was unlikely that he would go. We all have to be concerned that at this stage with doing everything we can to ensure that the process of reconciliation within Sri Lanka continues to move forward.

[Lord Dholakia]

My Lords, does the Minister agree that it would do a lot of good for the Commonwealth Heads of Government to meet in Sri Lanka, particularly when countries such as Britain and South Africa have a lot to offer when there are serious allegations of excesses during a war? Should we not recommend the peace process in Northern Ireland or the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa as a means of bringing peace to that troubled island?

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire]

We are all aware that some atrocities were committed on both sides during the conflict in Sri Lanka, and it would be extremely good to have an independent investigation of them. The Sri Lankan Government have set up their own investigation into this—I forget its full name—although there are some doubts about how independent it is. We continue to press for a thorough and independent investigation.