'CHOGM leaders must push Lanka to end crackdown on activists'

Leaders of the Commonwealth countries must use the CHOGM summit in Colombo to pressure Sri Lanka to end its alarming crackdown on civil society, a rights group said today.
Sri Lankan military this morning blocked scores of family members of disappeared people from attending a human rights vigil in Colombo, the latest move to stifle freedom of expression and assembly ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) on November 15-17, Amnesty International said in a statement.
"It may be astonishing to some that even on the eve of CHOGM, the Sri Lankan government feels free to abuse rights at the heart of the Commonwealth charter. But such government repression of civil society was expected. Commonwealth leaders must not just turn a blind eye," said Steve Crawshaw, Director of the Office of the Secretary General who is in Colombo representing Amnesty International at CHOGM.

"Sri Lanka is trying to use CHOGM to whitewash its despicable human rights record and hide ongoing abuses under the carpet. The government must not be allowed yet again to get away with this," he said.
The army today stopped scores of family members of disappeared people, who were travelling by bus from Sri Lanka's Tamil-majority northern province to attend the Samagi human rights festival in Colombo.
Samagi is an "alternative CHOGM" organised by human rights groups.

"This is a blatant attempt by the authorities to stifle people's right to peaceful protest. It fits a familiar pattern in Sri Lanka, where the government has in recent years done everything in its power to silence dissent," said Crawshaw.

The Sri Lankan authorities have taken measures to prevent public protests in Colombo during CHOGM.
Meanwhile, the government has intensified a crackdown on critics and dissenting voices in the build-up to the summit, with opposition activists, journalists and human rights defenders among those have been harassed or threatened.
"The Commonwealth and those attending the summit must use the coming days to highlight and condemn ongoing human rights violations in Sri Lanka. Under no circumstances should Sri Lanka be handed the chair of the organisation for the next two years," Crawshaw said.
During a recent visit to the country, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi PIllay expressed dismay that the surveillance and harassment of Sri Lankan civil society "appear(ed) to be getting worse".