Commonwealth summit overshadowed by case of Rochdale man murdered in Sri Lanka

Khuram Shaikh

The case of Khuram Shaikh, the 32-year-old Red Cross worker from Rochdale who was murdered in Sri Lanka in 2011, has cast a shadow over the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Colombo next month, which is due to be chaired by Prince Charles and attended by David Cameron.

Khuram, whose girlfriend was the victim of a serious assault in the same attack, was allegedly killed by a figure who is a close friend of the Sri Lankan prime minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa, and a key political fixer for his Sri Lanka Freedom party in the country's south.

Despite forensic evidence linking Rajapaksa's ally to the crime, no charges have been brought, and this has prompted allegations of a cover up.

David Cameron was put under pressure over the case at prime minister's questions last week by Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk. That led the prime minister to promise that he would personally raise concerns with Rajapaksa.

Mr Danczuk is now repeating his request that Mr Cameron boycott the meeting unless there is clear progress in the stalled murder investigation.

Critics say the lack of justice for Khuram is emblematic of the widespread impunity enjoyed by those accused of human rights abuses in the country.

Speaking to to a national newspaper, the Observer, on Friday, Khuram's bother, Nasir, described the continuing anguish that has been suffered by his family as the case has dragged on inconclusively.

"My father still visits the grave every day. It has been so hard for the family. But this isn't going to go away.

"When we visited Sri Lanka we were told that what was holding up the case was the collection of the final witness statements and the DNA evidence, which was described as the last piece of the jigsaw. But they have had that material for months and still there have not been charges."

The Sri Lankan government has tried to deflect criticism over the slow progress of the investigation but, despite promises on numerous occasions that the case was about to come to a head, nothing has happened.

In December last year Neville de Silva, Sri Lanka's acting high commissioner to the UK, in an interview with the Guardian, dismissed suggestions of government interference or deliberate delay, adding that he had been told by the attorney general's department that "non-summary inquiries" were due to begin shortly.