Open Letter to Kamalesh Sharma, Commonwealth Secretary General
|
| Published on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 |
Email To Friend Print Version |
Hon Kamalesh Sharma
Secretary General, Commonwealth
Marlborough House
London
Dear Secretary General:
It is now just one week before the CHOGM. I write in the continued hope that there will still be a statement from your office or from the leadership of the Commonwealth in the form of the outgoing and/or incoming chairs on the Gambia and the President's widely publicised statement about killing human rights defenders. You will recall that our request was that in the absence of any recission of his alleged statement, no invitation be issued to the Gambian President.
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.
I enclose one of the dozens of articles of advice and comment that typify the public sentiment that has been voiced across the Commonwealth and on the internet on this subject to illustrate the depth of public feeling and the accompanying hope that the Commonwealth will speak out in its own defence.
There has been some suggestion - weak though it is - that the President's statement has not been officially validated and this prevents comment by the Secretariat. I would point out that given the wide publicity it has received, the joint statements from three UN and African Rapporteurs it has engendered, and the serious and credible reactions of the African Commission which has even suggested it be moved out of Banjul, there has been no denial of the statement nor anything to suggest that it has been misinterpreted.
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.
Sincerely,
Maja Daruwala
Director
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) | | | | Reads : 484 | | | |
|
|
