Suspend
Britain, CSOs Demand
By Sanjay Suri
A GROUP of Nigerian civil society
organisations have asked for the suspension of Britain
and Australia from the Commonwealth over the invasion
and “colonial occupation” of Iraq.
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The organizations sent their submission to Commonwealth Secretary-General
Don McKinnon from the Commonwealth People’s Forum Wednesday
ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM)
later this week.
The group of ten civil society organizations said in their
petition that the involvement of Britain and Australia in
the invasion of Iraq violates the Singapore declaration of
principles of 1971 and the Harare declaration of principles.
“These principles make very clear that the modern Commonwealth
is being built on a firm commitment to international peace
and understanding, and opposition to all forms of colonial
occupation and domination,” the petition says.
Its signatories include the Centre for Democratic Development
Research and Training, the Institute for Governance and Social
Research, the Vision Trust Foundation and the Women Support
and Development Initiatives.
Under the Harare declaration members have pledged their belief
that “international peace and order, global economic
development and the rule of international law are essential
to the security and prosperity of mankind.”
The invasion of Iraq had brought a “flagrant and arrogant”
violation of these declarations, the petition says.
The demand to suspend Britain and Australia was made more
directly to McKinnon at a meeting at the Yar’Adua centre
in Abuja where the Commonwealth People’s Forum is being
held.
“We have always said that these issues are better resolved
through the United Nations system,” McKinnon replied.
“If you can get UN support for the kind of actions taken,
so much the better. If you can’t, we have seen the result
of that.”
McKinnon said that if the two declarations are read as legal
documents, people would get “immensely frustrated.”
If they are read as political documents, then they would have
to be interpreted as political documents, he said.
“But no country in the Commonwealth has raised the
issue of Britain and Australia being in breach of these principles,”
McKinnon said. “So the mechanism has not been tripped
to do something.”
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