Engagement legitimises repression
Editorial- Tamil Guardian 08 November 2013
Writing in the Tamil Guardian on Thursday, British Premier David Cameron set out his government’s rationale for rejecting the growing calls, both at home and abroad, for him to boycott the Commonwealth leaders’ summit in Sri Lanka next week. Whilst noting the Sri Lankan government’s “poor record on human rights and cruel treatment of the Tamils” – an understatement given the steadily mounting evidence – and the grave “allegations” of war crimes and sexual violence, Mr Cameron’s argument, in sum, is that to secure the “change” he wants to see, “the right thing to do is to engage” with Colombo.
Writing in the Tamil Guardian on Thursday, British Premier David Cameron set out his government’s rationale for rejecting the growing calls, both at home and abroad, for him to boycott the Commonwealth leaders’ summit in Sri Lanka next week. Whilst noting the Sri Lankan government’s “poor record on human rights and cruel treatment of the Tamils” – an understatement given the steadily mounting evidence – and the grave “allegations” of war crimes and sexual violence, Mr Cameron’s argument, in sum, is that to secure the “change” he wants to see, “the right thing to do is to engage” with Colombo. 