It was unanimously agreed at the Central Executive Council meeting, October 23, 2013, that DAP would call for the boycott of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) scheduled to take place in Colombo, Sri Lanka, November 15-17, 2013.
DAP regards CHOGM as an important forum to articulate and highlight a wide range issues such as human rights, democracy, justice, and governance. DAP has supported CHOGM’s earlier initiatives to oppose the apartheid regime in South Africa and military interventions in Fiji and Pakistan. DAP has consistently opposed regimes that violate human rights and place constraints on democracy.
In this respect, DAP thinks that holding of CHOGM in Colombo is not an appropriate thing to do. To date, the Sri Lanka government has not taken any initiative to investigate and prosecute those responsible for crimes against innocent Tamils during the civil war in 2009. Beyond the killings, hundreds and thousands of Tamils who disappeared during the civil war have not been accounted for by the government. Those responsible for the rapes against Tamil women and girls have not been brought to justice
International human rights organizations including the United Nations have issued serious warning to the Sri Lanka government to investigate allegations of murders, rapes and disappearances. But however, the government has not been forthcoming with any form of investigations into these allegations. Recently, United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights, Naveen Pillay, issued serious warning to the Sri Lanka government to address the pressing human rights concerns failing which the UN would order an international investigation into the conduct of the government.
Given these gross violations of human rights and deterioration of democracy in Sri Lanka, some countries like Canada has expressed serious concern about Sri Lanka and whether Colombo is the rightful venue for CHOGM. Furthermore, Canada’s Prime Minister, Stephen Harper dropped the bombshell that he would be boycotting the meet. Under pressure from political parties in Tamil Nadu, India’s Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh is not sure of attending CHOGM. Even Kenya is thinking of boycotting CHOGM in Colombo.
DAP urges the Malaysian government general and Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in particular to boycott the meeting as Sri Lanka has not taken any concrete steps to address the gross violation of human rights in the country. By boycotting this function, Malaysia would be able to send a strong message to Colombo that the international community including Commonwealth would not tolerate human rights violations!
DAP calls on all BN parties to press the Malaysian government to boycott CHOGM in Colombo as a humanitarian protest against the recalcitrant Sri Lankan government’s stubborn refusal to account for the deaths of tens of thousands of Tamils during the closing stages of the Sri Lankan Civil War.