Sir Donald McKinnon says PM ‘likely to raise concerns’ with Sri Lanka over human rights record.

Former Commonwealth Secretary-General Sir Donald McKinnon says PM Key ‘likely to raise concerns’ with CHOGM host Sri Lanka over human rights record.“Yes, there are still outstanding issues there and there are still issues that that government has to address.  And there’s always going to be a bit of debate – do you go there and say something about it, or do you boycott it and say nothing about it face to face?”

Sir Donald McKinnon says Sri Lanka’s human rights record has improved but says had the country agreed to the UN coming in several years ago it would have helped its standing internationally.

“The fact they disagreed with the UN coming in just didn’t help them, but they’re very conscious that when they do have CHOGM, there’s a huge amount of global press there. They’ve got to make sure— You can’t hide everything.

“And that’s the very thing – I think he should have taken it and said, ‘Come here, Human Rights of the UN.  Come and look at us.  Tell us what we need to do.’  He’d be In a much better position if he’d done that than, you know, saying, ‘No, do not come.  I can handle this’,” Sir Donald says.

There have been calls for Prime Minister John Key to boycott the meeting following Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper move to do so.

Sir Donald McKinnon says it is difficult for the Commonwealth to be tougher on Sri Lanka because it is difficult to get full agreement on how to address the issues.

“There are those who will say, ‘You’ve got to hit them harder,’ those who will say, ‘You’ve got to help them out of this hole they’ve dug for themselves.’

He says Prime Minister John Key is most likely to raise concerns about how the country is progressing on human rights at the leader’s retreat.

“And, you know, as one who sat through many of those where you just have the leaders on their own, plus the Secretary-General, they are extraordinarily candid with each other because they all believe that one can pull down the others.”

When asked what New Zealand could hope to gain from this meeting, Sir Donald McKinnon said New Zealand would want to see progress occurring in Fiji “which I think probably will occur”.

“This is the chance for any one leader, John Key included, to sometimes resolve issues that become irresolvable.  If the officials and the foreign minister, the diplomats can’t, sometimes a face to face with a leader can resolve it.  It might be a trade issue.  It might be a consci— It might be a New Zealander languishing in a jail somewhere.” 

He also says New Zealand will be actively campaigning for its Security Council seat.

“Here’s 53 votes, and I have no doubt that John Key will be working very hard.  After all, we don’t have a lot of contact with African leaders or, in fact, Caribbean leaders.

“Now, there’s— between those two, there’s 33 votes.  That’s a fair chunk of votes.  If you can secure all those for the Security Council, this is the place to get them.”