Colombo: International human rights groups on Saturday urged Sri Lanka’s new President to immediately order security forces to cease use of force against protesters.
This comes after troops and police cleared the main camp of protesters following months of demonstrations over the country’s economic meltdown. A day after President Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn, hundreds of armed troops raided a protest camp outside the President’s office in the early hours of Friday, attacking demonstrators with batons. Human Rights Watch said the action sends a dangerous message to the Sri Lankan people that the new government intends to act through brute force rather than the rule of law. Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement that Sri Lanka’s international partners should send the message loud and clear that they can’t support an administration that tramples on the rights of its people. Amnesty International said it is shameful that the new government resorted to such violent tactics within hours of coming to power.
Sri Lankans have taken to the streets for months to demand their top leaders step down to take responsibility for the economic chaos that has left the nation’s 22 million people struggling with shortages of essentials, including medicine, fuel and food.