Sharma under fire
- Friday, 27 September 2013
Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma is under fire for his role in addressing issues related to Sri Lanka.
Sharma is alleged to have been instrumental in preventing Sri Lanka from being included in the agenda of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) in April this year.
The CMAG is empowered to investigate serious or persistent violations of the Harare Declaration and to recommend measures for action. The group also has the authority to suspend a member country of the Commonwealth for serious infringements.
However, controversy over Sharma’s role came out in the open with the revelation that he was holding back two legal opinions that were given to the Commonwealth on the impeachment of Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake.
Sharma commissioned two independent legal reports on Bandaranayke’s impeachment prior to the CMAG meeting in April.
The Secretary General refrained from making the reports available to the group despite calls by the Canadian government and others to make those reports available to the group.
The Secretary General refrained from making the reports available to the group despite calls by the Canadian government and others to make those reports available to the group.
Nevertheless, one of the reports that was leaked on September 8, states that the impeachment of the chief justice was unconstitutional and a “direct violation” of the rule of law and contravened Commonwealth Values and Principles.
Sharma’s failure to submit these reports have raised questions about his role in relation to dealing with Sri Lanka.
The CMAG is to today (27) meet in New York, ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo this November.
It is learnt that Canada and several CMAG members have requested the Commonwealth Secretariat to organize a briefing at the meeting by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on the situation in Sri Lanka.
The CMAG meeting comes two days after Pillay’s hard hitting oral submission on the human rights situation in Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC).
The CMAG meeting comes two days after Pillay’s hard hitting oral submission on the human rights situation in Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC).
However, the Commonwealth Secretariat even by the 26th evening had not made any request for a briefing by Pillay for the CMAG members.
All these have now resulted in many Commonwealth nations questioning Sharma’s role and his competency in dealing with Sri Lanka.
