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May 10, 2007
MCC Puts Sri Lanka Compact On Hold
Posted by Sarah Rose at 01:03 PM
Despite appeals from Sri Lankan President Rajapakse, the MCC has put further compact development activities on hold. The compact was quite far along (pdf), having neared the end of the "due diligence" phase, and the MCC had projected (pdf) it would sign the compact this year. The decision to put the compact on hold was based on escalating violence between the government and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and concerns about increasing restrictions on certain freedoms that finally were captured in the MCA performance indicators. Among those concerned with the fragile situation on the ground was Senator Richard Lugar who wrote a letter to President Rajapakse on March 30 expressing concern about the deteriorating human rights situation and its potential to negatively impact delivery of results under the compact. A number of civil society organizations focused both on Sri Lanka specifically and on democracy and human rights more broadly have also weighed in. The key criterion for suspending activities, however, was the report (pdf) by Freedom House, the source for two of the MCC’s Ruling Justly indicators, citing a decline in Sri Lanka’s scores on both Political Rights and Civil Liberties. This was of particular relevance to the MCC since a decline in one or more of the eligibility indicators--when the decline can be traced to a specific issue--triggers a formal review process (pdf) within the MCC to determine if and what action should be taken.
The MCC is monitoring the situation closely and Sri Lanka’s eligibility status is not affected by the decision to defer activity.
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