Proposal for Commonwealth Human Rights Commissioner rejected

The Commonwealth Parliamentarians today discussed how democracy and good governance in all countries in the world could be strengthened.

In addition to the main sessions of the Conference, several plenary sessions were held at the Committee Hall of the BMICH from this morning. The Commonwealth Parliamentary Women’s Association held discussions on the task of women in the parliamentary process. Attention at the main conference today was focused on empowering the future generation, democracy and strengthening of legal administration and the people friendly Parliamentary mechanism.
A notable feature was a Resolution presented by a group of UNP Parliamentarians including Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe and four western nations on the appointment of a Human Rights Commissioner for Commonwealth nations. Regional countries such as India and Pakistan and many other countries including representatives of the African region vehemently rejected it.
The President of the Conference, expressing views amidst objections, announced that the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference was rejecting the Resolution. It was informed that if necessary it could be presented at the forthcoming Commonwealth Summit next year.
Delegates to the conference are scheduled to tour several locations in Sri Lanka. They will receive the opportunity of visiting the North and seeing for themselves the situation there. The world representatives will also visiting historic places such as Kandy, Koggala and Sigiriya.