• published: 14 Nov 2013
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Sri Lankan President Tells David Cameron: 'We Have Nothing To Hide' Sri Lankan President Tells David Cameron: 'We Have Nothing To Hide' Sri Lankan President Tells David Cameron: 'We Have Nothing To Hide' David Cameron is set for a diplomatic battle over Sri Lanka's human rights record at the Commonwealth summit after the country's president insisted he has "nothing to hide". The prime minister has promised to bring up the host country's alleged complicity in torture, kidnappings and war crimes with President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the gathering of world leaders in Colombo. Ahead of Friday's meeting, Cameron also confirmed he will visit the northern city of Jaffna, a Tamil-dominated area that suffered heavily in the country's 25-year civil war, which ended in 2009. However, Rajapaksa has hit back at international criticism, saying his country is open about its past. "We have a legal system in Sri Lanka," Rajapaksa said in a Colombo news conference. "If anyone wants to complain about the human rights violations in Sri Lanka, whether it is torture, whether it is rape ... we have a system. "If there [are] any violations, we will take action against anyone. So we are open. We have nothing to hide." He also revealed he has agreed to meet Cameron, and suggested his response will be combative. "I will be meeting him and we will see, I will also have to ask some questions," he said. Earlier, Sri Lanka's media minister, Keheliya Rambukwella, warned Cameron could not make demands of the county as if it were a colony. He told the BBC: "We are a sovereign nation. You think someone can just make a demand from Sri Lanka? It can be a cordial request. We are not a colony. We are an independent state." Cameron is planning to push for an independent inquiry into the human rights accusations, with international oversight if Sri Lanka cannot commit to making progress during the summit. However, Labour has called for the prime minister to boycott the meeting entirely in protest at Sri Lanka's record, as the Indian and Canadian leaders have. Writing in the Tamil Guardian, Ed Miliband also urged Cameron to push for Rajapaksa to be stripped of his automatic two-year chairmanship of the Commonwealth after hosting the summit. This ceremonial role means he will play a key part in next year's Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, hosted by the queen. It is understood Cameron has not ruled out pushing for this sanction but considers the international inquiry a greater priority. Whitehall sources also pointed out this would have to be agreed by a consensus of Commonwealth leaders. Speaking from India, Cameron said he will be looking to highlight Sri Lanka's human rights record. "There's no doubt that journalists in Sri Lanka are restricted in what they can do, that's one of the reasons for shining a light on human rights and journalistic freedoms," he said, "For my own part, I am going to the north of the country, to Jaffna. I'll be the first not only prime minister of Britain but any prime minister anywhere in the world who's going to the north of that country since 1948. "I think it's very important to go, to make exactly the points we were talking about, that there needs to be a proper inquiry, there needs to be proper human rights and democracy for the Tamils in their country and these things need to be properly looked at. "My view is that of course there's always a case for not going somewhere but I think actually we'll get further by going and having conversations with Sri Lanka about what needs to happen and shining a light on some of the issues that are there. "When I go to the north, I'll be taking journalists with me." Ahead of the summit, some Tamil media have reported that campaigners have been prevented from travelling to Colombo to protest about relatives who have disappeared. A Channel 4 crew has also said it was blocked from reaching a former war zone in the north for filming as pro-government protesters stood in the way of their train. Among the journalists on board was Callum Macrae, whose documentary No Fire Zone: the Killing Fields of Sri Lanka was released ahead of the summit.