US officials urge Sri Lanka to prosecute perpetrators of crimes against religious freedom

The annual US State Department International Religious Freedom Report for 2016 released yesterday (15) notes that the Sri Lankan government is yet to establish a lucid stance on the protection of religious minorities within Sri Lanka. 

Over the past year the US embassy has collaborated with varied inter-faith personalities to promote religious harmony within Sri Lanka. The US ambassador has strongly advised Sri Lankan officials to prosecute the Buddhist monks involved in the attacks against Muslim and Christian communities in 2014. 

Citing the constitution, the US state Department reports every person is “entitled to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, including the freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice.” Illustrating the right any citizen has to practice, or preach their respective religion either in private or at a public forum. In Sri Lanka however, the government has an obligation to give Buddhism a “foremost place” and should act in a way so that the longevity of Buddhism is protected. 

The government elected in 2015, made it a point in their renewal agenda to promote religious harmony and strengthen inter-faith relations. Civil society organizations such as the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), Center for Human Rights and Research, and others have noted that one key promise of the government was to prosecute and investigate state officials implicated in or responsible for inciting past religiously based violence. According to the report however there were several instances where local police and local government officials turned a blind eye to several Buddhist nationalist movements and appeared to take a similar stance although the situation was not as ghastly as previous years.

Reportedly there were several instances where police officials cited obsolete policy documents in an attempt to hinder the construction of churches and mosques. It was also reported that law-enforcement officials were hesitant to apprehend individuals related to religion based hate-crimes. There were also reported that several Buddhist extremist groups with government protection in the suburbs, attempted to close down Christian and Muslim places of worship on the grounds that they lacked the Ministry of Justice and Buddha Sasana’s approval.

Several Religious organizations documented cases of violence against their religious groups.  The National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL) documented a total of 87 cases of attacks on churches, intimidation and violence against pastors and their congregations, and obstruction of worship services during the year. The Secretariat for Muslims (SFM) recorded 82 incidents of hate speech, acts of discrimination, attempts to desecrate or destroy Muslim religious edifices, and verbal insults upon or use of physical force to impede Muslim cultural practices and rituals, a 62 percent reduction from the previous year. There were no reported deaths related to inter-religious disputes. 
 
Several Buddhist extremists groups like the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) and the Jathika Bala Sena (JBS) have reportedly continued their abusive behavior against minority religious groups in Sri Lanka. The government had made attempts such as the issuing of an arrest for BBS General Secretary Gnanasara Thero on October 13, 2014 for his acts of violence. The US embassy however believes that the Sri Lankan government requires a more earnest effort to promote religious freedom.  

The US ambassador stated that government leaders including the president should arrest and prosecute perpetrators of crimes against religious minorities and to protect religious freedom for all citizens. These statements were made in an attempt to help promote religious freedom and end the nationalistic movement within the island so that it would not give rise to a darker problem in years to come.