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The unpalatable truth is that the Commonwealth wasn't set up to address how its national leaders exercised state power or to ensure compliance to agreed values. It was based on the foundational fiction that British Empire – no model of universal human rights – was established to teach colonies self-governance and equip them to take their place in the global order. The ideal was "friendly co-operation" of member nations with each other and with British business and expertise (not least, military).Via http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/03/commonwealth-apathy-sri-lanka-boycottsource: The Guardian