“Stop the promotion of hatred and faith-based violence” – UN rights experts urge Sri Lanka
2 July 2014
GENEVA– Three United Nations experts on freedom of religion, minority issues, and summary executions today called on Sri
Lanka to adopt urgent measures to stop the promotion of racial and faith-based hatred, and violence against Muslim and
Christian communities by Buddhist groups with extremist views, and bring perpetrators of this violence to justice.
More than 350 violent attacks against Muslims and over 150 attacks against Christians have been reported in Sri Lanka in
the last two years. Muslim and Christian communities are reportedly subjected to hate speech, discrimination, attacks
and acts of violence throughout Sri Lanka frequently.
On 15 June 2014, a local group promoting extremist Sinhalese nationalist views, Bodu Bala Sena (BBS – The Buddhist Power Force), staged a large protest rally in Aluthgama that resulted in inter-communal violence,
during which four people lost their lives and about 80 were injured. Homes and shops owned by Muslims, as well as
mosques were vandalized and some set ablaze.
“This violence is fueled by the atmosphere of impunity in Sri Lanka,” the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or
belief, Heiner Bielefeldt, said. “Impunity and inadequate response from the police and judicial authorities aimed at
protecting the lives, physical security, the property and places of worship of these communities may encourage further
attacks and a risk of spiralling violence.”
Mr. Bielefeldt urged Sri Lanka to guarantee the right to freedom of religion or belief of members of minority religious
communities and stop any advocacy of racial and religious hatred.
“The Government must end the violence and put in place urgent protective measures to ensure the personal security of all
individuals belonging to religious minority communities living in the country,” the Special Rapporteur on minority
issues, Rita Izsák, stressed.
“The full range of rights of religious minorities must be guaranteed in law and protected in practice,” she noted
welcoming the President’s announcement of the appointment of a high level panel to investigate those incidents.
The Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns, called on the Sri Lankan
authorities “to take urgent and firm measures to bring the perpetrators of killings to justice, and ensure the immediate
adoption of robust protective measures.”
“Showing determination to ensure accountability in such cases must be a key element of the Government’s efforts to
prevent the attacks and guarantee the safety of the members of religious minority communities” Mr. Heyns said.
Alongside BBS, other groups promoting extremist views in Sri Lanka, such as the Sinhala Ravaya and the Hela Bodu Powura,
purport to be the protectors of Sinhala Buddhism, which they claim is being threatened by Muslim and Christian religious
minorities.
These extremist groups reportedly proclaim the racial superiority of Sinhala Buddhists and spread fear among local
population, for example, through allegations that Buddha statues are being bulldozed by religious minorities, or that
evangelical Christians are forcibly converting youths and sick patients in their hospital beds, or that Muslims are
smuggling drugs and birth control pills in order to destroy Sinhalese people and prevent their reproduction.
“These statements contribute to spread a climate of fear among Sinhala Buddhists, who constitute the majority population
in Sri Lanka, and resentment towards minorities,” the UN human rights experts said.
ENDS