The Commonwealth commissioned two reports, one by a former South African chief justice Pius Langa and one by London QC Sir Jeffrey Jowell, neither of which were seen by member states.
Langa’s report was found among his belongings after his death in July. The damning report, submitted in March, accused the Sri Lankan government of trampling over the justice system and breaching Commonwealth values and principles.
Canada’s special envoy to the Commonwealth, Hugh Segal, said that Canada was “deeply troubled” by the cover up, and accused the Commonwealth of sweeping the issue “under the rug” in order not to jeopardise the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Colombo, adding:
“When you have an opinion from a former chief justice that is so categoric and so devastating, the notion that the Commonwealth just looks the other way and pretends it never happened is deeply problematic.”
See the Sunday Times for full story.