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Canada suspends Commonwealth funding over S. Lanka human rights abuses

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ANI London
Last Updated : Apr 15 2014 | 1:45 PM IST

Canada is suspending funding for the Commonwealth Secretariat over alleged human rights abuses by Sri Lanka.

Canada will instead direct its planned 20 million dollars contribution towards other Commonwealth programmes.

According to the BBC, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper boycotted a Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka last year.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said that Canada was deeply concerned about the absence of accountability for alleged serious violations of human rights in Sri Lanka, the report said.

He added that Canada would reallocate the funds to assist in combating the practice of child, early and forced marriage, and help Commonwealth civil society advance the promotion of human rights, it added.

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First Published: Apr 15 2014 | 1:34 PM IST

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