OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada publicly criticized Sri Lanka over its human rights record for the first time on Thursday, setting the scene for a confrontation at a major international summit next month.
Sri Lanka is under increasing Western pressure to probe allegations of war crimes and humanitarian law violations at the end of its war with Tamil Tiger separatists in 2009.
Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird said he had told his Sri Lankan counterpart of Ottawa’s “concerns on the lack of accountability for the serious allegations of war crimes, the lack of reconciliation with the Tamil community and with events that have taken place since the end of the civil war”.
A diplomatic clash looks likely when Canada and Sri Lanka come face to face in late October at a summit of the 54-member Commonwealth of former British colonies in the Australian city of Perth. Sri Lanka is due to host the summit
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