The India-based Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) begins a two-day conference in Port of Spain Monday ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) beginning Friday in Trinidad. The assembly's aim is to develop concrete recommendations on how government, civil society and other stakeholders can work in partnership to ensure "the centrality of human rights to the Commonwealth".
The rights group also hopes that it can develop a plan for a more pro-active and facilitating role to ensure that governments live up to Commonwealth ideals and commitments on human rights.
Read the story: Human Rights Assembly in POS ahead of CHOGM
One of the principal issues is the presence of Gambia at the CHOGM.
The CHRI and the Caribbean Centre for Human Rights (CCHR) have demanded action against Gambian President Jahya Jammeh for statements he made in September on Gambian television threatening to kill defenders of human rights groups.
CHRI has written three letters to Kamalesh Sharma, Secretary General of the Commonwealth, to get some action on the matter.
Last week, CHRI sent its third letter to Sharma asking for a reply on the issue.
"I write in the continued hope that there will still be a statement from your office or from the leadership of the Commonwealth...on the Gambia and the President's widely publicised statement about killing human rights defenders," CHRI Director Maja Daruwala wrote in his letter dated Nov. 18, 2009.
"I am given to understand President Jammeh may not in fact be attending the CHOGM. In our view this does not end the matter. The gravity of the threat remains as does the unequivocal repudiation of the fundamental principles of the Commonwealth: in simple words - a repudiation of all that the Commonwealth stands for," he added.
"This is a moment of truth, Secretary General, and I would urge the Secretariat, before or at the CHOGM itself, to strongly recommend a statement by Member States that indicates that the Commonwealth has a clear stance in defence of human rights and its promoters and protectors.
"This will lay to rest some of the deep apprehensions that are reverberating widely across civil society in the Commonwealth.
"Absence of any challenge to his statement, reproof or protest by the leadership of the Commonwealth will leave a great deal of disillusionment in its wake, fear on the ground, and may well be construed as acceptance of the positions of impunity and violence that are clearly asserted in the President's alleged statement," Daruwala wrote.
Trinidad and Tobago takes over the CHOGM chairmanship at this week's conference but the government has so far refused to make any statement regarding the Gambia matter.
Foreign Ministrer Paul Gopee-Scoon told reporters last week the Manning government is "not going to make a pronouncement on it."
She said, "If it comes up at all, it will be a matter for the Heads and by consensus it will then be referred to the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), whose responsibility and task it is to assess matters of violation of the fundamental principles of the Commonwealth."
Read the story: Commonwealth to discuss Gambia rights issue next week
No comments:
Post a Comment