The Commonwealth summit, attended by heads of state or their representatives from 53 member nations, opened in Sri Lanka with heavy security on Friday.
The summit got under way with a four-day ban on protests and rallies in the capital where some 20,000 police have been deployed.
Sri Lanka’s main opposition party is boycotting the event in protest against pro-government mobs storming their party headquarters where a human rights festival was being held on Thursday to coincide with the Commonwealth events.
“The government has shown that they do not worry about the democratic rights of the opposition or even respect the charter of the Commonwealth,” Tissa Attanayaka, general secretary of the main opposition UNl Party, told dpa.
The event has also drawn attention to Sri Lanka’s human rights situation including allegations of violations during the military operations against Tamil rebels in the northern part of the country in 2009 at the end of the 26-year conflict.
Leaders from India, Canada and Mauritius are boycotting the summit over Sri Lanka’s human rights record.
Britain’s Prince Charles is among those attending the sessions.