BRISBANE archdiocese’s Catholic Justice and Peace Commission executive officer, Peter Arndt (CL 13/10), on return from a visit by Catholic justice and peace workers from across Asia and the Pacific, alerted us to the continuing abuse of the human rights of Tamils and those who dare criticise the government in Sri Lanka.
The Prime Ministers of two major Commonwealth countries, India and Canada, have boycotted this week’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo.
David Cameron, Prime Minister of Great Britain, decided to attend, but declared he would use the occasion to “demand that the Sri Lankan Government independently and transparently investigates alleged war crimes and allegations of continuing rights abuses”.
Over the years leaders such as Bishop Reyappu Joseph within the country and prominent figures such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former Human Rights Commissioner, Mary Robinson, as well as the current UN commissioner, Navi Pillay, have called for action by the Sri Lankan government to investigate and correct human rights abuses.
Meanwhile the Australian Government is mute on this matter, maintaining all is well.
This silence is unlikely to be broken.
How could we credibly add our voice to the growing number of governments, agencies and prominent individuals calling for respect of human rights in Sri Lanka when those who come here to claim protection are branded ‘illegal’, detained indefinitely or even summarily returned to the country where they have experienced such abuse?
It is even more unlikely that we would follow the United Kingdom stand in granting injunctions to stop the deportation of a number of Tamil asylum seekers (as noted in the 2013 Human Rights Watch World Report) on the grounds that returnees were being detained, accused of taking part in anti-government activities abroad and, for some, subjected to torture by the Central Intelligence Department and other security forces.
GENEVIEVE CAFFERY
Greenslopes, Qld
