by Dr. Victor Rajakulendran; originally published December 1, 2003
An open appeal to the Heads of Governments of the Commonwealth member nations
Honourable Presidents and Prime Ministers:
Re: The candidacy of Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar of Sri Lanka for the Commonwealth top post
I am writing this appeal when most of you are preparing to travel to Lagos in Nigeria for the next CHOGM meeting. All of you who were concerned hitherto about President Mugaby’s actions in Zimbabwe and your organisation’s decision not to invite President Mugabe to Nigeria, would have been jolted by the announcement that has been made by the President Chandrika of Sri Lanka that Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar is going to contest the elections for the top post. Both President and the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka has given their joint support to Mr. Kadirgamar’s candidacy and the President has written to her embassies to start lobbying the member nations to support Mr. Kadirgamar’s candidacy.
While the incumbent, New Zealand’s Don McKinnon, is keen on trying to get re-elected, the Sri Lankan’s decision to contest against McKinnon would have put many of you under an awkward situation. The argument put forward by the countries that are supporting Mr. Kadirgamar’s candidacy that an Asian contesting for the post could stand a good chance of winning, has introduced a racial flavour to this election.
While the Sri Lankans are good at playing communal politics within their country it looks like that now they are getting ready to spread that in the International arena too. Although Mr. Kadirgamar is an Oxford educated Barrister who has capabilities, he has also allowed matters to happen under his administration that makes one to think twice before he or she decides to cast a vote for him.
The main reason for this is due to what happened in Bindunuwewa in Sri Lanka in October 2000. In the early hours of the morning of the 25th October 2000, a mob of over a thousand Sinhala villagers from the vicinity attacked the Bindunuweva Rehabilitation Centre near Bandarawela town (110 km. from Colombo), hacking to death at least 24 detainees and seriously injuring about 16 others. The detainees were all Tamils aged between 11 and 16 and had surrendered or been arrested as suspected members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) who were at war with the Sri Lankan government at that time.
This camp was under the administrative control of the National Youth Services Council (NYSC) functioning under the Ministry of Youth Affairs. In order to carry out a more comprehensive rehabilitation program with the aim of reuniting these children into society, the President constituted a multi-sectional steering committee chaired by Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar in November 1999 and Bindunuwewa Rehabilitation Centre was brought under this steering committee. Therefore, Bindunuwewa massacre was carried out while the victims were under Mr. Kadirgamar’s responsibilities. Therefore one could argue that Mr. Kadirgamar’s hands are tainted with Tamil blood.
Furthermore, Kadirgamar was the Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka when the controversial “Alleged War Criminal” Maj. Gen. Janaka Pererra was introduced into Australia as the High Commissioner of Sri Lanka. He did this, ignoring the concerns raised by Amnesty International as well as many other non-governmental organisations about this appointment.
After the Prime Minister’s party defeated his party, Mr. Kadirgamar was reduced to an ordinary nominated opposition member of the parliament. But, he remained as the foreign policy adviser to the President. During this time he has advised the president with wrong strategies and as a result the whole peace process is in danger in Sri Lanka at the moment.
Therefore, any country that upholds human rights and democratic values cannot support Mr. Kadirgamar’s candidacy. It is my fervent hope that wisdom will prevail among the CHOGM leaders when they meet next week and the leaders will avoid supporting a person who allowed human rights to be abused under his administration and failed to uphold democratic values.
Yours truly,
Dr. Victor Rajakulendran
Sydney
AUSTRALIA
30.11.03
Contacts for the Commonwealth member countries
1. Antigua & Barbuda
Ministry of External Affairs & Planning
Queen Elizabeth Highway
St. Johns
Antigua
2. Bahamas
Prime Minister’s Office
P.O. Box N7147
Rawson Square Nassau
Bahamas
Tel: 322- 2805
3. Bangladesh
Bangladesh High Commission
P.O. Box 5, Red Hill
ACT 2603
Tel 02 6290 0511/0522/0533
Fax: 6290 0544/0566
4. Barbados
High Commissioner for Barbados
130 Albert Street
Suite 1204
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5G4
Canada
Tel: 61 3 236 9517
Fax: 61 3 230 4362
5. Belize
High Commissioner for Belize
80 Elgin Street
4th Floor
Ottawa , Ontario K1P 1B7
Tel: 613m236-7267
Fax: 613 236 7882
6. Botzwana
High Commissioner for Botzwana
1531 – 1533 New Hampshire Av. N.W.,
Washington DC 20036, U.S.A
Tel. (202) 244 4990 Fax: (202) 244 4164
7. Brunei Darussaalam
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Bandar Seri Begawan
Negara
Brunei Darussalam
Tel: (673) 261 709/262 904
8. Cameroon
Hon. Consul. Maxwell Shean
65 Bingara Road
Beecroft NSW 2119
Tel: 02 9876 4544 Fax: 02 9869 2470
9. Canada
First Secretary
Canadian High Commission
Commonwealth Avenue
Canberra ACT 2600
10. Cyprus
30, Beale Crescent
Deakin ACT 2600
Tel: 02 6281 0832/0834
Fax: 02 6281 0860
11. Dominica
His Excellency President Vernon Lorden Shaw
President’s Office
Morne Bruce
Commonwealth Of Dominica
12. Fiji
High Commission
19 Beale Crescent
Deakin ACT 2600
PO Box 159
Deakin West
Canberra ACT 2600
Tel: 02 6260 5115 Fax: 02 6260 5105
13. The Republic of Gambia
Dr. Momodon Lamin Sedat Jobe
Department of State for External Affairs
4 Marina Parade
Banjul
The Republic of the Gambia
Tel: 220 225654-6 Fax: 220 223578
14. Ghana
Honorary Consul, Dr. Rod J. Marston
PO Box 169
Applecross, WA 6953
Tel: 618 9364 8355 Fax: 618 9316 2254
15. Great Britain
British High Commission
Consular Section, Level 10
SAP House
Cnr. Akuna & Bunda Streets
Canberra City ACT 2601
Tel: 02 9285 6171
16. Grenada
Grenada High Commission
1 Collingham Gardens
London SW5 0HW
Tel: 020 7771 7016
Fax: 020 7771 7181
17. Guyana
Mr. Karshange Arjun,
Ambassador
Gravenstraat No. 82
PO Box 785
Paramaribo
Republic of Suriname
Tel: 597-477-895/509
Fax: 597-472-679
18. India
High Commissioner
3-5 Moonah Place
Yarralumla ACT 2600
Tel: 02 6273 3999/3774/3875
Fax: 02 6273 1308
19. Jamaica
Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Foreign Trade
21 Dominica Drive
Kingston 5,
Jamaica
Tel: 926-4220
Fax: 929-6733
20. Kenya
High Commission
Level 3
QBE Building
33/35 Ainslie Av.
Canberra ACT 2601
Tel: 6247 4788/4722/4688
Fax: 6257 6613
21. Kiribati
Ministry of External Affairs
Tarawa
Kiribati
South Pacific
22. Lesotho
Mr. Leta Joseph Mokotjo
Ambassador
No 1-7-1 Ta Yuan
Diplomatic Office Building, Sanlitun
Beijing 100600
People’s Republic of China
23. Malawi
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
PO Box 30315
Capital City
Lilongive 3
Malawi
Tel: (265) 782 205/560/001/470/290/598
Fax: (265) 782 434
24. Malaysia
Mr. A. Malok, Deputy High Commissioner
7, Perth Avenue
Yaralumla ACT 2000
Tel: 6273 1543/1544/1545
Fax: 6273 2496
25. Maldives
Mr. Fathulla Jameel
Minister of Foreign Affairs
The President’s Office
Muleeaage, Henvairu
Medhuziyaaraiy Magu
Male 20-05
Republic of Maldives
Tel: 323701 Fax: 325500
26. Malta
Mr. Ives De Barro
High Commissioner
PO Box 147
Red Hill ACT 2603
Tel: 6290 1724
Fax: 6290 2453
27. Mauritius
Mr. Patrice Eugene Cure
High Commissioner
2 Beale Crescent
Deakin ACT 2600
Tel: 6281 1203/4436
Fax: 6282 3235
28. Mozambique
Mr. Leonardo Roberto Siamao
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation
Post Box CP 2787
Moputo
Mozambique
Tel: 2581-1-490222/3, 491762, 491966, 490568,
Fax: 258-1-494070/491995
29. Namibia
Right Hon. Hage Geingob
Office of the Prime Minister
Gov. Building
Private Bag 13338
Windhoek
Namibia
30. New Zealand
Mr. Simon Murdoch
High Commissioner
Commonwealth Av.
Canberra
ACT 2600
Tel: 02 6270 4211
Fax: 02 6273 3194
(was asked to send to the First Secretary)
31. Nauru
Mr Rene Harris
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Parliament House
Yaren
Nauru Island
Tel: 674 4443146
Fax: 674 4443187
32. Nigeria
Dr. Rufai A O Soule
High Commissioner
PO. Box 241
Civic Square
ACT 2608
Tel: 6282 7411/0357/0693
Fax: 6282 8471
33. Pakistan
Mr. Khizar Hayat Khan Niazi
High Commissioner
PO Box 684
Mawson ACT 2607
Tel: 6290 1676/1879/1031
Fax: 6290 1073
34. Papua New Guinea
Mr. Renagi R. Lohia. CBE
High Commissioner
PO Box E432
Kingston ACT 2604
Tel: 6273 33222
Fax: 6273 3732
35. Western Samoa
Dr. Leiatana Kilifoti S Eteuati
High Commissioner
PO Box 3274
Manuka ACT 2603
Tel: 6286 5505
Fax: 6286 5678
36. St. Kitts & Nevis
Hon. Timothy Sylvester Harris
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Education
Church St
St. Kitts
Tel: 869 465-2521
Fax: 869 465 2635
37. St. Lucia
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
5th Floor
Greaham Louisy Administrative Building
Waterfront, Castries
St. Lucia
West Indies
Tel: 758 468 4501/4502
Fax: 758 452 7427
37. St. Vincent & the Grenadines
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Tourism
Government Buildings
Kingstown
St. Vincent & the Grenadines
West Indies
Tel: 457 1712
Fax: 457 2880
38. Seychelles
Mr. Louis Radegonde
High Commissioner
50 Jalan SS19/1D
Subang Jaya 47500
Selangor Darul Ehsan
Malaysia
Tel: 60-3 5638 9881/8964
Fax: 60-3 5638 0108
39. Sierra Leone
High Commissioner
Oxford Circus House
1st and 3rd floors
245 Oxford St.
London W1R 1LF
England
Tel: 0207 287 9884
Fax: 0207 734 3822
40. Singapore
Mr. Ashok Kumar Mirpuri
High Commissioner
17 Forster Crescent
Yarralumla ACT 2600
Tel: 02 6273 3944
Fax: 02 6273
41. Solomon Islands
Mr. Milner Tozaka
High Commissioner
PO Box 256
Deakin West
ACT 2600
Tel: 02 6282 7030
Fax: 02 6282 7040
42. South Africa
Mr. Zolile Magugu
High Commissioner
Cnr. State Circle and Rhodes Place
Yarralumla ACT 2600
Tel: 6273 2424/2425/2426/2427
Fax: 6273 3543
43. Sri Lanka
Major General Janaka Perera
High Commissioner
35 Empire Circuit
Forest ACT 2603
Tel: 6239 7041/7042
Fax: 6239 6166
44. Swaziland
Arthur Khoza
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade
PO Box 451 Mb abane
Swaziland
Tel: (09268) 404 2661/2/3
45. Tanzania
Mr. Elly E E Mtango
High Commissioner
4-21-9 Kamiyoga Setagaya-Ka
Tokyo 158-0098
Japan
Tel: (81-3) 3425 4531
Fax: (81-3) 3425 7844
46. Tonga
HRH. Prince Ulukalala Lavaka Ata
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defence
Salote Road
Nuku Alofa
PO Box 827
Nuku Alofa
Kingdom of Tonga
Tel: 676 23600
Fax: 676 23360
47. Trinidad & Tobago
Hon. Basdeo Panday PM
Office of the PM
“White Hall”,
Maraval Rd
Port of Spain
Tel: (868) 622 1625
Fax: 9868) 622 0055
48. Tuvalu
49. Uganda
Hon. James Wapakhabula
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
PO Box 7048
Kampala Uganda
Tel: (256 41) 258 251/252 or 2575 25
Fax: (256 41) 258722/232874
50. Vanuatu
Department of Foreign Affairs
Private Mail Bag 051
Port Vila
Vanuatu
Tel: (678) 22913/ 22347
Fax: (678) 23142
51. Zambia
Dr. Kilifoti S Eteuati
1-10-2 Ebara
Shinagaua-ku
Tokyo 142-0063
Japan
Tel: (81-3) 3491 0121/0122
Fax: (81-3) 3491 0123
52. Zimbabwe
Mrs. Florence Lubalendlu Chitauro
11 Culgoa Circuit
O’Malley ACT 2606
Tel: 02 8286 2281/2303/2700
Fax: 02 6290 1680