Sri Lanka Needs to End Unlawful Crackdown on Peaceful Dissent
The New York based Human Rights Watch has called Lankan government to end arbitrary arrest and journalist, harassment of protesters, activists and journalist immediately. An HRW statement issued from New York says: The Sri Lankan government is using emergency regulations to harass and arbitrarily detain activists seeking political reform and accountability for the country’s economic crisis, Human Rights Watch said. Since Ranil Wickramesinghe was sworn in as president On 21 July ,2022, the police and military have sought to curtail protests through the intimidation, surveillance, and arbitrary arrest of demonstrators, civil society activists, lawyers, and journalist.
Anti-government protesters in Colombo and elsewhere in the county led then President Gotabaya Rajapakse to flee the country before resigning on 15 July. On 22 July, President Wickramesinghe ordered security forces to disperse protesters and break up their main site in central Colombo. The police have subsequently targeted perceived protest leaders for arrest and detention “The Sri Lankan government’s crackdown on peaceful dissent appears to be a misguided and unlawful attempt to divert attention from the need to address the country’s urgent economic crisis,” said Meenakshi Ganguly,South Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
Security forces injured more than 50 people in the 22 July early morning raid on Aragalaya (People’s Struggle) site in Colombo. Security forces assaulted and beat three journalist from Xposure News- Chathuranga Pradeep, Rasika Gunawardana, and Shabeer Mohammed, and one another journalist, Jareen Samuel of the BBC, during the raid.
On 27 July, the authorities arrested prominent protester, Dhaniz Ali, from an international flight about to depart from Colombo. On 27 July, Unidentified men in civilian clothes abducted Veranga Pushpika, a former student activist and journalist who had also been active in the protests, from a bus in Colombo. Police did not disclose his whereabouts to lawyers or the Human Rights Commission for several hours before acknowledging his arrest.
Lawyers and media organisations told Human Rights Watch that they have experienced increased intimidation, including threats of violence and surveillance.
In a statement, 175 human rights defenders and civil society organisations expressed concern about “disturbing developments of abduction, arrest, intimidation, and reprisals against protesters.” Members of the Catholic clergy said the government should stop the repression of those involved and supporting the Aragalaya and focus on listening to grievances and aspirations of people and take action to address both immediate and long term problems.” Under the state of emergency that President Wickramesinghe declared on 18 July, the period that a person may be detained before being brought before a magistrate has been increased from 24 to 72 hours. The authorities have been granted sweeping additional powers of search and arrest, and the military has been empowered to detain people for up to a day without disclosing their detention. These provisions increase the risk of torture and enforce disappearance.
Under international human rights law, protection against torture, the excessive use of force, and other fundamental rights must never be violated, including during a state of emergency. Provisions of the state of emergency contrary to international standards should be immediately revoked, Human Rights Watch said.
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