Sunday, October 13, 2013

Commonwealth summit mired in row over Briton shot in Sri Lanka...

Prince Charles offered to help in the effort to win justice for a British man who was murdered in Sri Lanka – allegedly by a close political ally of the country's prime minister.

The high-profile case of Khuram Shaikh, a 32-year-old Red Cross worker from Rochdale who was killed in 2011, has cast a shadow over the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Colombo next month, which is due to be chaired by Prince Charles and attended by David Cameron.

Shaikh, whose girlfriend was the victim of a serious assault in the same attack, was allegedly killed by a figure who is a close friend of the Sri Lankan prime minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa, and a key political fixer for his Sri Lanka Freedom party in the country's south.

Despite forensic evidence linking Rajapaksa's ally to the crime, no charges have been brought, and this has prompted allegations of a coverup.

(...)

The decision to hold the heads of government meeting in Colombo has been dogged by controversy from the start. Canada has said it will boycott the summit because of its concerns about the host country's human rights record and continuing extrajudicial killings, while Cameron has also faced calls to boycott the meeting.

Critics say the lack of justice for Shaikh is emblematic of the widespread impunity enjoyed by those accused of human rights abuses in the country. Shaikh was stabbed in the throat and shot dead after he complained about a group of men sexually harassing his Russian girlfriend as they enjoyed a drink at a small hotel in Tangalle in the south of Sri Lanka in the early hours of Christmas Day 2011. Full story...

Related posts:
  1. MP to confront Sri Lanka's president over death of British tourist Khuram Shaikh...
  2. Canadian envoy: Commonwealth chief is stooge of Sri Lanka regime...
  3. Canada's PM to boycott Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka...
  4. Commonwealth giving Sri Lanka carte blanche for human rights abuses...
  5. Commonwealth: Don’t attend summit in Sri Lanka...
  6. Canada fury at Sri Lanka choice for Commonwealth talks...
  7. Commonwealth urged to drop Sri Lanka venue amid rights accusations...
  8. In post-war Sri Lanka, one person disappears every five days...

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