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Raid in Ratnapura, in the parish of Father Jeewantha Peiris, for his support of the protest movement in Colombo. The priest was disqualified, accused of “illegal meetings and damage to public property.” Arrests and intimidations against activists and journalists. Christian Solidarity Movement: “Respect for peaceful dissent is an essential ingredient to get out of the crisis.”
Colombo (Asia News) – Despite widespread condemnation of the arrests and intimidation, activists and journalists continue to face reprisals in Sri Lanka. On July 27, police raided a church in Ratnapura, Sabaragamuwa province, south-central Sri Lanka. They were looking for Father Amila Jeewantha Peiris, one of the most prominent figures in anti-government protests in the crisis-hit country.
The emergency rules that enable the crackdown and give the police the right to detain a person for up to 72 hours are unprecedented and remain in full force in Sri Lanka. Human rights advocates and church leaders in Sri Lanka called the police raid in Ratnapura “deplorable”. The incident came two days after a Sri Lankan court banned Father Peiris and five others from leaving the country for their alleged involvement in “illegal assemblies and damage to public property” during a protest rally in June.
Later, on July 26, Dhaniz Ali – another activist involved in the Galle Face protests – was dragged off a plane. The flight was about to depart and the police officers went through immigration control to take him away. On July 27, Veranga Pushpika, a protester and journalist, was taken off a bus in broad daylight by men in plain clothes. Four protesters who had handed over large sums of money found in the president’s residence to the police were then arrested. And that same day, people in civilian clothes claiming to be policemen visited the offices of Xposure News – a news site that provided extensive coverage of the protests – demanding to identify the people in the photos and to view the security camera footage.
“We urge the government to respect the freedoms of the people enshrined in the country’s Constitution,” writes the Christian Solidarity Movement in a statement, “and we remind you that Sri Lanka is a signatory to the UN human rights conventions.” In the face of violence unprovoked and unlawful attempts to stop these protesters, we will use all legitimate means at our disposal to make the country and Sri Lanka’s friends abroad aware of these violations Peaceful dissent is essential to maintaining democracy and, in the context of the current crisis, international credibility. The Sri Lankan state and President Wickremesinghe must immediately cease attacks on protesters and the perpetrators of violence must be held accountable.”
In a July 23 statement, the Sri Lanka Bishops’ Conference also strongly condemned the attack on unarmed civilian protesters and journalists the day before, stating that the suppression of human rights “will further exacerbate the disorders and damage the image of the country in the international community”. Several civil society organizations organized a peaceful protest on the Galle Face on July 29 against the hunting of peaceful protesters and the media, which was also joined by some religious figures.
