Sri Lanka gets Commonwealth training on human rights

Colombo: Ahead of a Commonwealth summit, Sri Lanka`s Human Rights Commission has received training on how to conduct inquiries on rights violations according to international standards.

The workshop took place while Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba was on a visit to the island nation to review arrangements for the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), set to take place in Colombo in November. Prominent Commonwealth nations like Canada and Australia have objected to hold the summit in Colombo due to the countries human rights record, but the 54-nation grouping has decided to go ahead with its plans. "The workshop had been very comprehensive in building their knowledge on human rights issues and he was pleased with the attendance at the workshop," Priyantha Perera, a retired judge and SLHRC chief said. John Walters, National Ombudsman of Namibia, has led the three-day workshop last week in Colombo to train more than 50 staff from the SLHRC. Global rights group, such as Human Rights Watch (HRW) alleges Sri Lanka has taken no meaningful steps to address serious abuses by government forces in the last stages of the conflict against the LTTE in 2009. Since 2009, Sri Lankan government has been responsible for a worsening human rights situation that includes clampdowns on basic freedoms, threats and attacks against civil society and actions against the judiciary and other institutions imperilling Sri Lanka`s democracy, HRW said in a recent report. Sri Lanka dismisses all accusations as politically motivated, unfounded and directed by the pro-LTTE diaspora in the West. PTI