Sri Lankan civic activists concerned over ‘witch-hunt’ by state

Government not against peaceful protests, we must go by rule of law when there is criminal activity, says Justice Minister

Citizens’ groups and activists in Sri Lanka have expressed concern over a series of arrests last week, of prominent members of the recent anti-government protests, terming it a “witch-hunt” by the state.

Their allegation comes a week after Ranil Wickremesinghe took charge as President of the island nation, capping weeks of political unrest and uncertainty, sparked by the economic implosion in Sri Lanka earlier this year.

Within 24 hours after he was sworn in, the military assaulted protesters and demolished their tents at Colombo’s main agitation site, near the sea-facing Presidential Secretariat. Lawyers and media were barred from entering the area during a pre-dawn raid on July 22 that drew wide condemnation domestically and internationally, including from the UN. In the days since, several activists associated with the ‘Janatha Aragalaya’ or People’s Struggle, have either been arrested or have arrest warrants issued for them.

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Sri Lanka is currently under Emergency rule, promulgated by Mr. Wickremesinghe on July 17 when he was acting President. It was ratified by Parliament earlier this week. Human rights defenders point to both, the Emergency, and the subsequent actions of the military and police, as attempts to “stifle dissent.”

According to Ambika Satkunanathan, a former commissioner at the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, declaring a State of Emergency has been “the default strategy” of executive presidents over the decades. “We have seen its devastating impact on human rights, particularly dissent and media freedom. During a state of Emergency, the military and police are granted excessive powers without any judicial oversight. Though the pre-dawn military raid took place under the cover of the Emergency, the actions we saw that day cannot be justified legally,” she told The Hindu, referring to soldiers surrounding unarmed protesters with no warning, and assaulting them despite an assurance from demonstrators to vacate the space that afternoon.

The declaration of an Emergency sent “a chilling political message”, observed human rights activist Ruki Fernando. “That the Parliament ratified the President’s decision [on the Emergency] only shows that both the executive and the legislature are now on a repressive path,” he said.