PM hopeful of human rights progress

David Cameron wants progress on human rights issues at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (AP)
12 April 2012

Prime Minister David Cameron said he is still hopeful that Commonwealth leaders can achieve "good progress" on tougher human rights protections amid warnings that a summit of Commonwealth leaders is headed for failure.

Talks have been taking place all day between heads of state from the 54 member countries on a range of issues, including a highly-critical internal report which warned the organisation was failing to stand up for basic rights.

One of the key demands in the report by the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) - the creation of a charter setting out Commonwealth principles - has been backed by the biannual meeting in Perth, Australia.

But there appeared to be little prospect of significant progress on another - the introduction of a commissioner to police human rights and democracy - to the frustration of the EPG.

The EPG's UK representative, Sir Malcolm Rifkind, warned that the Commonwealth's purpose and relevance were being thrown into question by its seeming "indifference" to widespread abuses.

And its chair, ex-Malaysian prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, said that without backing of the reforms the summit "will be remembered not as the triumph it should be, but as a failure".

Asked about Sir Malcolm's warning as he emerged from the second of three sessions of talks, Mr Cameron insisted: "I think we will make good progress on this excellent report.

"The Commonwealth is an organisation based on important values about freedom and democracy and rights and it's important that we state those values clearly and that's what the new charter is going to be all about.

"Of course, the Commonwealth is an organisation that proceeds on the basis of consensus so everyone has to agree and so sometimes things take some time.

"But I think this report is good and I think the lion's share of it will be put into action and the Commonwealth will be stronger because of it."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in