Why does the Foreign minister continually try to play down blatant abuses in Sri Lanka?
Is it related to the Gillard government's contoversial policy on Sri Lankan asylum seekers.
Why does Foreign Minister Bob Carr keep making excuses for the government of Sri Lanka?
There is strong evidence from credible organisations that serious human rights abuses are continuing in Sri Lanka, despite the “end of the civil war”.
But every time Bob Carr is asked about the situation there he pretends there are no problems and says things are improving.
Just a few weeks ago on Lateline he was doing his best to play down the reports of human rights abuses:
EMMA ALBERICI: Are you satisfied that the Sri Lankan Government is not engaging, right now, in human rights abuses?
BOB CARR: I think some of the stories that have been put to us, when we have checked them out, haven't been sustained.
The Canadian Prime Minister Steven Harper is going to boycott the upcoming CHOGM meeting because of the abuses and former Oz PM Malcolm Fraser agrees. But Mr Carr can’t see any problems,
BOB CARR: We have seen no evidence of that, Emma. It's not unreasonable to ask for evidence.
Well how about this evidence Mr Carr:
Amnesty International has just released a 78 page investigative report titled “Sri Lanka's Assault on Dissent”.
The report concluded that the Rajapaksa regime was consolidating its political power through continued violent repression of its critics.
Perhaps Carr is keen to play down the brutal abuses in Sri Lanka because his party is sending Sri Lankan asylum seekers back to their homeland on a regular basis, despite evidence that they are genuine refugees.
Carr really is a joke. He parades around like he’s a statesman but when it comes to hard issues he prefers to be a pathetic salesman, towing the party line, regardless of principle.
One has to wonder why he is regarded so well in media circles. He makes out he’s a nerdy, book loving, environmentalist who cares deeply about ethics. But look a bit deeper and there’s not a lot there.
Even when he was Premier he played on the “intellectual” image but spent a great deal of his time also playing the “law and order” card at every turn. Look at the facts – he was without doubt the most populist, “lock em up and throw away the key” leader in Australia.
See also: Man claims rape and torture upon return to Sri Lanka