Commonwealth

Lord Black of Brentwood Excerpts

Thursday 17th October 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Black of Brentwood (Con)]

My Lords, I declare an interest as chairman of the Commonwealth Press Union Media Trust, one of the venerable professional institutions that the noble Lord, Lord Luce, mentioned in his compelling speech. I join other noble Lords in thanking him for securing this debate at this time.

Born in its modern form on 28 April 1949, the Commonwealth next year reaches pensionable age, and 65 is a good opportunity for reflection. In so reflecting, we can point to important accomplishments: giving, as we have heard, a united voice to countries that share a common history and language and working hard to make progress in areas ranging from encouraging the leadership of women to strategic thinking on ocean governance. However, any reflection must lead us also to the conclusion that, unlike some younger institutions, such as the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and the African Union, which are relevant to members because of their heavy focus on economic development, the Commonwealth suffers from one great defect: its failure ever to establish a central mission. In an overcrowded market of international organisations, you need a unique selling point. The Commonwealth does not possess one.

The central reason for that is the diversity of its membership. Building a core mission that is as relevant to the people of Canada and New Zealand as it is to the people of Zambia and the Solomon Islands is exceptionally difficult. However, if the Commonwealth is to have a future in a rapidly changing world, then it must develop clarity about its aims and its mission.

The Commonwealth charter, as the noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, said, is an admirable attempt to do that. It is a statement of rights and responsibilities broad in scope and noble in ambition. However, the problem with it, of course, is that it is worthless if members simply pay lip service to it and no one—through persuasion, leadership or even disciplinary action—tries to ensure it has force.

I will outline two pertinent examples. First, Article V of the charter states clearly that the Commonwealth is,

“committed to peaceful, open dialogue and the free flow of information, including through a free and responsible media”.

However, Commonwealth countries are littered with colonial laws that stifle the free flow of information and muzzle the media, including criminal libel and state licensing of journalists—although none of them yet has a royal charter. In Uganda, Cameroon, Bangladesh and Rwanda, to name just a few, the state of press freedom is parlous and punitive laws are deployed to stop the development of an independent media and to punish journalists. Sri Lanka, Singapore and Rwanda languish near the bottom of the Reporters Without Borders 2013 World Press Freedom Index. Although there have been improvements, there is still a tragic problem with the safety of journalists, six of whom have been killed this year in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. Media freedom is fundamental to the charter, because the right of free expression is one on which all others rest, yet the record of the Commonwealth here is lamentable.

My second example is Article II, which states that the Commonwealth is,

“implacably opposed to all forms of discrimination, whether rooted in gender, race, colour, creed [or] political belief”.

But how can the Commonwealth be “implacably opposed” to discrimination when a disgraceful 80% of Commonwealth countries have laws criminalising consensual sexual conduct between adults of the same sex, punishable by imprisonment or even death? Is it so “implacably opposed” that, only a few years ago, CHOGM was hosted in Uganda, one of the most brutal regimes for gay men and women on the planet? No, for “implacably opposed”, read “turn a blind eye”.

We are discussing the future of the Commonwealth. That future must be established on the rock of a core set of beliefs and a zeal to uphold them. The charter is an admirable attempt to do that, but at the moment is sadly no more than empty words, as the journalists who die, the gay men who are persecuted, the women who are denied life-saving HIV drugs and others testify. If the Commonwealth is to have a future—everyone speaking in today’s debate will passionately believe that it must—it must show the leadership, courage and determination to begin the process of turning the charter into reality. Let that please be the message to CHOGM from today’s debate.