Should the Commonwealth get stuck into Bangladesh?
As concern mounts over corruption in Bangladesh, expat Nick Stace
wonders if it's time the Commonwealth made more effort to encourage
its members to modernise.
Every time I see the spectacle of leaders representing a third of the
world's population at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
(CHOGM), I think not only of Britain's colonial past, but also the
opportunities and tensions that lie ahead in forging a common future.
I also wonder about the Commonwealth's continued relevance, and
whether for the sake of the people it represents, it has the appetite
to modernise and be a force for greater good.
CHOGM recently concluded its meetings in Perth, Australia. Although
there were one or two notable absences, like India's Manmohan Singh,
the 54 leaders that could spare the time discussed two broad themes:
women and change, alongside democracy and development. The agenda was
relevant, if not a little uncomfortable for leaders from countries
where human rights and functioning democracies are regarded with
disdain. And you don't need to look too far. 12 members still allow
the abhorrent practice of forced marriage and homosexuality is
criminalised in 41 member states.
The role of the Commonwealth is brought into even sharper focus when
one looks through the lens of one member. Bangladesh is a country I
know well and the CHOGM themes were certainly pertinent to their
challenges too.
For a start, Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina is only one of
three female heads of government in the Commonwealth (along with
Australia and Trinidad and Tobago); but ironically women's rights in
Bangladesh are pretty non-existent. According to the UN, 47 per cent
of Bangladeshi women are victims of domestic violence and one human
rights group cited 181 acid attacks against women last year.
In common with many other Commonwealth members, the Bangladeshi prime
minister also faces some of the greatest challenges of leadership,
with corruption endemic and a system of historically unstable
government to contend with. In 2009 her party was swept into office on
the promise of stamping out corruption, but nearly three years on it
looks like Bangladesh will be crowned top of both Transparency
International's Corruption Perception Index (CPI) and Bribe Payers
Index (BPI).
During the past three years Sheikh Hasina has reduced the powers of
the Anti-Corruption Commission; supported a growing number of mobile
police tribunals, giving "justice" instantly at the side of the road;
and attempted a smash-and-grab of the Grameen social businesses, with
indications that this would bring commercial benefits to the prime
minister's own family. The Economist recently concluded that there was
increasing corruption at the heart of the Bangladeshi government.
Hardly surprising then that the World Bank has suspended funding of a
$2.9bn bridge across the Padma river on grounds of corruption.
It seems to me that Bangladesh along with many other members of the
Commonwealth could do with the active support, guidance and firm hand
of a revitalised Commonwealth. The challenges of protecting human
rights and decency, promoting high standards in public office and the
foundations for democracy, women's rights and sustainable growth, are
not only particular to Bangladesh but to a sizeable majority of
Commonwealth members.
Decades of inaction over Zimbabwe, and the more recent expulsion of
Fiji, illustrate a weakness in the Commonwealth's ability to influence
change. Of course expulsion should always be an option, but
proactively guiding and supporting change where it is most needed,
could be more effective in bringing it about. The problem with relying
on the nuclear option of expulsion is that if the values of the
Commonwealth were genuinely applied to all members, it might actually
see the expulsion of the vast majority, including Bangladesh.
Influence would almost certainly be enhanced if the Commonwealth could
help to guide and advise financial aid and investment decisions
between members. For example, UK aid in Bangladesh doubled last year,
at a time when democracy in Bangladesh took a significant step
backwards. Sheikh Hasina might change her ways if she thought her
actions would likely result in the loss of more investment, like the
suspension of the Padma Bridge project.
Last week saw the publication of a report from the 11-member Eminent
Persons Group (including former UK Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind
and retired Australian High Court Justice Michael Kirby). The report
called for radical reform of the Commonwealth if it isn't to be seen
as "hypocritical". In its 106 detailed recommendations, the report
talked of the Commonwealth's failure to speak out when its values are
violated. Among the recommendations is a tough new draft charter for
the Commonwealth and the appointment of an independent Human Rights
Commissioner, empowered to monitor violations and propose action.
Not surprisingly the report was kicked into the long grass by India,
South Africa and one or two other members. Resistance to change
alongside the report's conclusion that "the most serious threat to the
continued relevance and vitality of the Commonwealth itself" is the
"complacency and inertia" of the London Secretariat, does not bode
well. But change will always be difficult, and there are many
influential members like Britain and Australia that support reform.
The Queen also noted in her opening comments in Perth, that the
challenge is to ''keep the Commonwealth fresh and fit for tomorrow''
and ''not forget that this is an association not only of governments
but also of peoples''.
Never has it been a better time for the Commonwealth to redefine its
purpose and be a force for good across the world. To do so it needs to
be clearer about its purpose, its underlying principles and values and
strengthen its ability to influence change. Alternatively the
Commonwealth could resign itself to being just a talking shop, with
declining influence, relevance and attendance at meetings for those
whom have nothing better to do. It may also stand accused of providing
a veil of legitimacy that is bestowed simply by membership, to those
regimes that commit the most appalling acts of inhumanity.
As Martin Luther King once proclaimed, "If we are to go forward, we
must go back and rediscover those precious values - that all reality
hinges on moral foundations and that all reality has spiritual
control". I urge the Commonwealth members and in particular the
Secretariat in London, to take seriously the report from the Eminent
Persons Group and reform the Commonwealth for the sake of Bangladesh,
the majority of its members and, most importantly, a third of the
world's people.
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