In an open letter to Kamalesh Sharma, the Commonwealth secretary-general, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative laments the lack of response from the Commonwealth in relation to Gambian President Yahya Jammeh's troubling remarks about human rights defenders in his country.

With Rwanda's application for membership of the Commonwealth likely to be on the agenda at this year's Commonwealth heads of government meetings, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) expresses serious reservations about the country's credentials. Evidence pointing to the suppression of freedom of speech and a climate of fear represent significant causes for concern, the CHRI argue in this week's Pambazuka News, and ultimately point to the need for an independent body designed to assess applicants' and existing members' records on democracy and human rights.