Sri Lankan President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, stated during a memorial for those killed in the Easter Sunday bombing, that he would “not leave any room for any form of extremism or violence” whilst concerns are raised over the clampdown on civil society.
On 21 April 2019, a series of bombings occurred during Easter Sunday in churches and hotels. Over 250 people were killed in this attack which ISIS claimed responsibility for. A Sri Lankan parliamentary report issued after the attacks found that Sri Lanka’s security forces had intelligence on the attack beforehand but may have chosen to permit it ahead of a presidential election which allowed for President Rajapaksa’s victory.
International NGOs such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have issued statements raising concerns over the human rights situation in Sri Lanka. Human Rights Watch is particularly concerned over the militarised responses to the current coronavirus pandemic which has led to several arrests for the spread of false information as well as local councillors providing voluntary relief packages to vulnerable villagers.
In Gotabaya Rajapaksa statement, he chastises the previous administration stating;
“It is most unfortunate that the mechanisms that were in place to ensure national security were dismantled”.
Rajapaksa has appointed, General Shavendra Silva, accused war criminal and current head of Sri Lanka’s army, to lead the country’s response to the coronavirus.
Read Gotabaya Rajapaksa's full statement here.
