17 11 2012 To: The Commonwealth Secretary-General Open Letter Dear Secretary-General We write once again to bring your attention

to the disturbing state of human rights in Sri Lanka and the grave implications of holding the 2013 Commonwealth Summit in that country. We have previously drawn your attention to the UN Secretary Generals Panel of Experts, which found serious allegations of international humanitarian law violations in Sri Lanka credible and called for international investigations as well as justice and accountability. These calls have been widely echoed by a number of governments and credible international actors all over the world. Several UN Experts have also found evidence of grave human rights violations such as extrajudicial killings and there are regular reports of ongoing human rights violations within Sri Lanka, including serious allegations such as enforced disappearances. Basic freedoms such as freedoms of expression have been under severe threat, making Sri Lanka one of the most dangerous places in the world for independent media. Much of this has now re-entered the international limelight with UNs admission of its own failure to carry out its role during the end of the Sri Lankan civil war. The UNs latest report clearly shows that Sri Lanka willfully obstructed humanitarian work and engaged in the intimidation of neutral international actors in order to ensure that there were no witnesses to human rights and humanitarian law violations and massive civilian deaths. As demonstrated most recently, in its actions threatening devolution and the judiciary, Sri Lanka has once again made its willingness to act unconstitutionally and against the Commonwealths core values of rule of law, human rights, and separation of powers, very clear. Much credible documentation now exists on the ways in which independent state institutions such as the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission have been stifled through executive interference. In a Statement released on 14 November 2012 the UN Special Rapporteur on independence of judges and lawyers was heavily critical of the Governments continued attacks on the judiciary.The government is now in the process of impeaching the Chief Justice. We welcome your recent expression of concern on this. However, we urge you to also take account of the cumulative effect of a series of such actions by the government, which together make holding the Commonwealth Summit in the country inappropriate. The Canadian Prime Minister has already asserted that he would not attend the Commonwealth Summit in Sri Lanka till the human rights situation in the country improves. On 14th November 2012 a powerful committee of the UK Parliament recommended that the UK Prime Minister should not attend the Commonwealth Summit. Even as disquiet on the question of holding the Commonwealth Summit in Sri Lanka increases, the Commonwealth Secretariat has In fact pushed for full attendance.It is morally indefensible to continue to stand by and allow Sri Lanka to unconditionally host the associations premier meeting and go on to Chair for the next two years. This would seriously undermine the Commonwealths values, which have only recently been re-affirmed in 2009 and are supposed to be enshrined into a Commonwealth Charter in 2013. We repeat our call to you, as the highest official of the Commonwealth, to uphold the Commonwealths commitments to its fundamental values and pursue a course of action that sees the establishment of a series of benchmarks which the Sri Lankan government needs to fulfill, in order to be fit for a Commonwealth Summit. We have previously given you a list of such benchmarks they include credible international investigations into allegations of humanitarian law violations and the restoration of fundamental freedoms for all populations within Sri Lanka and we stand by this list. Sincerely Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace & Justice