The Anglican Church (Church of Ceylon) yesterday called on the government to respect human rights, pluralism, democracy and truth with justice.
In its message on International Human Rights Day, the Bishops of the Church and the Church of Ceylon expressed concern on many distressing developments in Sri Lanka that have undermined the important provision in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
Accordingly, the Bishops of the Church and the Church of Ceylon raised concern on several issues including that are mentioned below,
Two and a half years after the Easter Sunday massacre, there seems to be more focus on harassing those calling for truth and justice on behalf of those who lost their lives, rather than ascertaining and revealing the masterminds behind the biggest civilian massacre of the post-civil war era;
Twelve years after the end of the protracted civil war, despite Government commitments to pursue truth and justice in relation to war times abuses that included enforced disappearances, the aerial bombardment of hospitals, places of sanctuary and religious worship, the institutions and mechanisms responsible have made little progress and there is concern about backsliding in this important area for post-war national reconciliation;
Many significant human rights violations that affect the equality and dignity of persons and undermine the Rule of Law remain unaddressed. These include the killings during the Rathupaswela protests, the killing of labour rights activist Roshane Chanaka, PTA detainees, Nimalaruben and Dilrukshan, the abduction of journalist Pradeep Ekneligoda, the abduction of 11 youth and men and the Welikada prison massacres.
