Sri Lankan Catholic Church steps up pressure on Gotabaya over Easter attacks

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Influential archbishop seeks support from Vatican and Human Rights Commission in Geneva

Influential archbishop seeks support from Vatican and Human Rights Commission in Geneva

The Catholic Church in Sri Lanka has called for the intervention of the Vatican and the UN to ensure justice for the victims of the 2019 Easter terror attacks, increasing pressure on the Rajapaksa administration which came to power by promising to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Earlier this week, the Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm, Cardinal Ranjith, met with Pope Francis in Rome and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet in Geneva. He said he was concerned about “insufficient” progress in the investigation into the Easter bombings that rocked Sri Lanka in April 2019, killing 279 people including 45 foreign nationals. The serial explosions, attributed to a network of Islamist radicals, took place at three churches in the capital Colombo and the eastern city of Batticaloa, and at three luxury hotels in Colombo.

Cardinal Ranjith’s international outreach comes after a series of protests and statements in Sri Lanka demanding justice for families affected by the most horrific terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka in the island nation’s post-civil war years. Activists say the Catholic Church‘s campaign for justice will intensify in the coming weeks as the third anniversary of the attacks approaches. Their request coincides with growing criticism of the Rajapaksa administration over a severe shortage of essentials, including fuel and medicine, and long power cuts as the island nation struggles with an unprecedented economic crisis.

Known to be a supporter of the administration of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa (2005-2015), especially when government forces fought the LTTE, Cardinal Ranjith earlier denounced any foreign intervention in the affairs of Sri Lanka when the Tamils, including some Catholics, called for international support for the war. – accountability and justice.

In a clear shift, he has now asked for help from the Pope and UN forums. Commenting on the current position of the Catholic High Priest, the popular Sri Lankan business newspaper, the Daily FT noted in his editorial on Friday: “His pleas to the international community echo the calls for justice made by thousands of Sri Lankan victims of atrocities and human rights abuses since the end of the civil war while, time and time again, judicial processes in the island simply fail to deliver.”

The leading Roman Catholic bishop slammed the government last month when authorities arrested Catholic activist Shehan Malaka Gamage, who has questioned in the past whether politicians used the Easter 2019 attacks for political gain. including the election victory, alluding to polls held later that year. He called the arrest of the activist an “indecent and brutal act” which resembled “kidnapping”.

A select parliamentary committee, set up under the former Maithripala Sirisena-Ranil Wickremesinghe government, and a panel appointed by President Maithripala Sirisena, which continued its investigation after the regime change, submitted detailed reports on the Easter attacks. . However, critics of both governments have noted that neither attempt has conclusively established with evidence the “real architects” of the suicide bombings. The Catholic Church has criticized the government for refusing to make the findings of the presidential commission public. In its latest report on Sri Lanka, the UN referred to the ongoing full investigation into the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings and the need to release the findings of a presidential panel.

Read also: Portraits of the victims

Police have arrested more than 200 suspects in the past three years, but Cardinal Ranjith has previously remarked that those persecuted so far are “small fish”, pointing to “a bigger conspiracy beyond the religious extremism”. Amid “conspiracy” allegations, Sri Lankan police said in January that 42 people had been charged in the case, dismissing the conspiracy claims.

Meanwhile, the Colombo High Court Trial-at-Bar will take the case against 25 defendants at a hearing set for May 12, the state Daily News reported Friday.

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