The
23rd Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM; ) was held in
Colombo,
Sri Lanka, from 15 to 17 November 2013.
Commonwealth leaders agreed on
Sri Lanka as the 2013 host for the meeting when they met in
Port of Spain,
Trinidad and Tobago, in 2009. Sri Lanka, which was originally slated to host the summit in 2011, was accused of
committing atrocities during the
Sri Lankan civil war and the summit was instead held in
Perth, Australia; Colombo was given the 2013 summit instead. The leaders of Canada, Mauritius, and India boycotted the summit, citing alleged human rights violations by Sri Lanka against its
Tamil minority. Protests were also banned during the summit. President
Mahinda Rajapaksa summarised the summit's events as: "Issues covered in the communique include development, political values, global threats, challenges and Commonwealth cooperation." However, the meeting was overshadowed by controversy over Sri Lanka's
human rights record and the alleged war crimes during the final stages of the civil war. This was the first time in 40 years that the
Head of the Commonwealth,
Queen Elizabeth II, was not present at the CHOGM.