Hate speech

A Sri Lankan motorist risks jail for complaining on Facebook that he had been given a traffic ticket because he is Buddhist. Amid a fierce debate on religious freedoms in the Indian Ocean nation, the motorist now faces court action for the traffic offence and the Facebook post in which he said he had been […]

Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Hon. Dappula De Livera pC Attorney- General Attorney General’s Department Hulftsdorp Street Colombo. Hon. Attorney General, The Human Rishts Commission of Sri Lanka’s (HRCSL) analysis of the scope of section 3 of the ICCPR Act. No.55 of 2007 and attendant guidelines. The HRCSL is pleased to present herewith the Commission’s legal […]

Image: Writer Shasthika Sathkumara was arrested and kept in detention for more than 100 days for writing a short story. Case against him is pending.  Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission has issued guidelines on application of Hate Speech Law (s.3 of ICCPR Act) in a letter addressed to the Acting IGP, Sri Lanka. The HRCSL […]

CID Director SSP Shani Abeysekera. Picture by Gayan Pushpika, DN. Senior Superintendent of Police Shani Abeysekera, Director of the Criminal Investigation Department told the Parliament Select Committee on the Easter bombings yesterday that extensive investigations into the activities of Zahran Hashim by the CID had led them to Lactowatte, where the haul of explosives found […]

( ECONOMYNEXT )The senior-most police officer in the North-Western province is under investigation for attempting to cause racial hatred by planting reports of mass sterilization taking place at the Kurunegala teaching hospital, a police official said.   Deputy Inspector-General Kithsiri Jayalath is facing an internal inquiry into his conduct over what has become a deeply […]

(26.04.2019/ Colombo/HRCSL) The terrifying and violent acts perpetrated on 21st April, Easter Sunday, have left all of us in deep shock and sorrow. The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka vehemently condemns these cruel acts which snuffed out a large number of lives. We offer our deepest condolences to the bereaved families. We also salute […]

Mar 19, 2019/ ECONOMYNEXT – Facebook took down an offensive post by an anchor working for Sri Lanka’s Derana TV and also deleted several equally offending posts justifying the massacre of 50 people in New Zealand. “We’ve reviewed the share you reported,” Facebook told one of its users who was upset by what he called the […]

The letter signed by a set of powerful Buddhist leaders including two Mahanayakes and the Diyawadana Nilame of Dalada Maligawa, and addressed to Buddha Sasana Minister Gamini Jayawickrema Perera, appealing for the release of Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera from prison, and in turn, the Minister’s recommendation to President Maithripala Sirisena (MS) to comply with that […]

Here in Sri Lanka, the response to recent communal riots was to temporarily ban social media. An extra-ordinary move indeed. We should ask ourselves whether it was Facebook that caused the riots in 1915, the 1970s, the 1980s. Or is it a convenient excuse to stifle criticism of the Government’s handling of the crisis and […]

Sri Lanka Alert: (09.30 GVA time 07 March 2018) Anti- Muslim violence continues despite state of emergency (& curfew) in place. State of Emergency was delayed by the president for 7 days from 06th March 2018. At this time  Sri Lanka Muslims are facing grave situation as their places of warship, business places and houses are being […]

Image: Gintota ethnic clashes were fueled by fake news spread by social media. By Jehan Perera. The government took decisive action to put the lid on escalating inter ethnic violence between Sinhalese and Muslims in Gintota over the weekend which led to damage to a large number of homes, businesses and buildings estimated to be […]

Image:  the military presence in the North and East regions remained heavy and a culture of surveillance and intimidation and harassment in certain instances persisted, says the report. B. Civil and political rights 1. Right to life, liberty and security of person 16. The Special Rapporteur on torture recommended that capital punishment be abolished or, as […]

Sri Lanka government has taken  decision to  not proceed with the hate speech charges filed against  extremist Buddhist monk and the leader of the Buddhist Brigade ( Bodu Bala Sena),  Galabodaaththe Gnanasara. Accordingly,  when the case against Galabodaaththe Gnanasara was taken up on 29th Sep 2017 the Crime Prevention Division of the Police informed the Colombo Magistrate Court […]

Image: Monks who led the attack on Rohingya refugees in Colombo ( face book photo) A group of civil society activists has urged the government to immediately direct your minister in charge of law and order and the IGP to arrest those who are responsible for breach of peace, acted violently against Rohingya refugees and resorted […]

Image:Police said the warrant for the arrest of Galagodaatte Gnanasara relates to an accusation of insulting the Koran that dates back to April 2014, months before the outbreak of deadly religious riots. By AFP A Sri Lankan court issued a warrant Thursday for the arrest of a radical Buddhist monk accused of instigating arson attacks against […]

Image: Sri Lanka cabinet of Ministers. Sri Lanka Cabinet making a statement said that  they are deeply concerned by the recent incidents of violence targeting places of religious worship, shops and business enterprises, and houses. We denounce in the strongest terms, these acts of violence and hatred, including incidents of hate speech by certain individuals and […]

Image: Ambassadors and representatives of the diplomatic community visiting the Dewatagaha Mosque in the wake of attacks targetting the Muslim community. COLOMBO, 01 June 2017 . The Heads of Mission of the European Union, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa and Switzerland together with other diplomatic representatives today visited the Dewatagaha Mosque to meet leaders […]

National Peace Council. An alarming number of attacks against Muslim religious places of worship and businesses are being reported countrywide causing economic ruin to many people, hurting their religious sentiment and bringing them dismay and leaving the entire community in fear of life and security. The worsening trend has been going on for several years […]

Image: 21st May 2017: A Cosmetic Shop in Elpitiya burned. Hilmy Ahamed. Post war Sri Lanka saw a wave of attacks targeting the Muslim community by Buddhist extremist groups. The Mahinda Rajapaksa government allowed these extremists free rein, which caused extensive damage, including injuries and the damaging of Muslim-owned property. This resulted in the Muslims voting en-bloc […]

Image: Mahinda Rajapaksa courtesy of FCA, Sri Lanka. by Hilmi Ahamed. Justice and Buddha Sasana Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe is seen as a blatant liar by the Muslim community. He has become Yahapalanaya’s unofficial patron of Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) and its controversial leader Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero. He has elevated this thuggish prelate (who […]

Image: it was calculated hate speech that led to Aluthgama anti-Muslim riots in June 2014. After a two year lull that followed replacement of the former government through the electoral process, public manifestations of inter community tension have increased in recent months. There are indications of political maneuvering behind these efforts to disturb the peace […]

Issuing a statement as  the Chairperson, Office for National Unity and Reconciliation, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga  says that The strictest action must be taken without delay, against persons or groups who act to provoke disharmony by creating divisions among citizens along ethnic and religious lines. The full statement follows: The Office for National Unity and Reconciliation […]

Image: BBS General Secretary Galagoda aththe Gnansara at the Sugathadasa Stadium during a rally to welcome Myanmar’s hardline 969 monk Ashin Wirathu. Radical Buddhist monks threatening demolition of majority Muslim suburbs of Colombo and employing violent, racist and threatening rhetoric against public officials continue to enjoy impunity under the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe Government, which was swept into […]

Image: Extremist Buddhist monks has become violent hate mongers in recent times in SriLanka. I a letter to Inspector General of Police with copies to leaders of the government hundreds of citizens have asked the government to immediately arrest all hate preachers notwithstanding their religious of social affiliations. The letter calls for  urgent action by […]

Image: Abdul Razik, General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Thawheed Jamaath. COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan government has moved to curb communal hate speech by arresting and getting remanded two extremists, one a Sinhalese and the other a Muslim, on charges of making communally incendiary speeches in the capital earlier in the month. A Sinhalese man, […]

( Don Priyasad, with Sinhale mike in hand,  threatening to kill Muslims standing  in front of the fort railway station) (Press release) The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) is deeply concerned by a spate of recent events with ominous portents for ethnic and religious harmony and reconciliation in Sri Lanka. These include the murder of […]

Agence France-Presse. The UN human rights chief has launched a scathing attack on populist politicians including Donald Trump and the Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders, calling for action to halt “demagogues and political fantasists”. Speaking in The Hague, Zeid Raad al-Hussein said he was a Muslim whose role was “to defend and promote the human […]

(Kishani Jayasinghe, singer who sung the song) Describing the way she sang ‘Danno Budunge’. Condemning a television station for using the term ‘belli’ (meaning bitch) to describe the way a woman sang ‘Danno budunge’ at the Independence Day ceremony, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said that he will be summoning the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority and the […]

The participation of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, former President Chandrika Kumaratunga and visiting British Minister Hugo Swire at the Thai Pongal celebration in Jaffna is an indication of the special attention that is being given to the northern polity by the government. The top leaders of the government have been making frequent visits to the […]

The proposed anti-hate speech Bill currently on hold would be reintroduced with amendments, Deputy Minister of Parliamentary Reforms and Mass Media Karunarathna Paranawithana said. “The government has observed a surge of communally harmful sentiments in the recent past. The proposed law was put on hold after considering views expressed by the media and other civil […]