MPs seek Sri Lanka’s expulsion from Commonwealth
| February 20,
2013
PETALING
JAYA: The parliamentary caucus on the Sri Lanka conflict has resolved to
pressure the Commonwealth to boot out the South Asian country from the
organisation and to tell the Malaysian government to boycott this year’s
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo.
Malaysia’s
attendance at the meeting would be equivalent to endorsing the human rights
violations committed by the Sri Lankan authorities, Teluk Intan MP M Manogaran
told reporters after chairing a roundtable discussion at Parliament House
yesterday.
Manogaran
is the secretary of the caucus, which co-organised this morning’s meeting with
the Malaysia Tamil Forum.
“We
also want the Commonwealth to expel Sri Lanka,” he said.
K
Arumugam of the Malaysian Tamil Forum said Sri Lanka should not be an example
for a multiracial nation to follow.
“What
if a Malaysian leader in the future uses the military solution to remove the
minority Indians and Chinese here?” he said.
Sri
Lanka and Malaysia are among the 54 former British colonies that make up the
Commonwealth. CHOGM is among its regular activities.
The
23rd CHOGM will be held from Nov 15 to Nov 17.
The
island nation went through a 30-year civil war that ended in 2009 with the
army’s defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). More than 100,000
people, including civilians, were killed during the conflict. The dead also
included LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. A large number of survivors are
still in concentration camps.
The
Sri Lankan government, currently led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, has denied
accusations that the military violated human rights.
The
meeting yesterday also resolved to raise the matter with the United
Nations.
“We
want the Malaysian representative to sponsor a motion during the United Nations
Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva on March 5,” Manogaran said. “Malaysia
should cite Sri Lanka for human rights violations or support a motion by any
other country to do so.”
Putrajaya
has always expressed support for the Sri Lanka government. Last year, Malaysia
abstained from voting against Sri Lanka when the United States tabled a motion
against that country.
Another
resolution passed at the meeting was to urge the UN Secretary General to appoint
an independent committee to evaluate the United Nations’ internal workings in
Sri Lanka.
