EPG and Minority Rights in Sri Lanka

Luxmy asks:

Your Excellency

Thank you for appointing EPG for reforming the Commonwealth.

Would you take up the recommendations in the report (''NO WAR, NO PEACE: the denial of minority rights and justice in Sri Lanka'', Report by Minority Rights Group International, published on 19 January 2011) by the Minority Rights Group International in the forthcoming conference in Australia?

Luxmy

The Secretary-General replies:

Dear Luxmy

When Commonwealth leaders gather for CHOGM in Perth later this year they will receive recommendations from the Eminent Persons Group. If adopted, these proposals will have a considerable impact on how we do things in the Commonwealth, and also for what end. Members of the EPG have deliberated long and hard on how the Commonwealth can make the greatest impact and maximise its contribution to promoting the values held in common.

In their Affirmation of Commonwealth Values and Principles, made at the 2009 CHOGM, leaders reiterated their commitment to the core values of the Commonwealth by, among other things, stating that they were:

• “Human rights: reaffirming our commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and human rights covenants and instruments; and recalling our belief that equality and respect for protection and promotion of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights for all without discrimination on any grounds, including the right to development, are foundations of peaceful, just and stable societies, and that these rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated and cannot be implemented selectively.”
• “Tolerance, respect and understanding: recognising that tolerance, respect and understanding strengthen democracy and development; recognising also that respect for the dignity of all human beings is critical to promoting peace and prosperity.”

As for issues on the agenda of the CHOGM in Perth later this year, that is for leaders to decide collectively.

Kamalesh Sharma