Sri Lanka: Authorities Crack Down on Religious Minorities

(New York) – Sri Lanka Authorities are waging a campaign to bar Hindus and other religious minorities from places of worship and other property and to redesignate those sites as Buddhist holy sites, Human Rights Watch said today. Government agencies, including the Department of Archaeology, the army, and the police, are engaged in a joint strategy to attack the culture and customs of religious minorities. They are promoting settlements in the Sinhalese Buddhist majority in northern and eastern Sri Lanka, undermining the property rights and religious freedom rights of the predominantly Tamil and Muslim populations.

Since the Sri Lankan government defeated the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009 after a brutal 26-year civil war, troops and security agencies deployed in the northern and eastern provinces have been conducting intrusive surveillance of the militant group. Suppressing dissentand increasingly infringing on the right to religious freedom. In temples in the north and east, a pattern has emerged in which authorities have worked with nationalist Buddhist monks to damage or remove Hindu idols and threaten, attack or arrest worshippers to prevent them from entering. They have also targeted Tamil and Muslim property for land grabs.

“The Sri Lankan government’s high-profile claims of reconciliation seem meaningless amid growing repression of minority religious and cultural identities,” he said. Meenakshi GangulyDeputy Director of the Asia Division at Human Rights Watch. “Concerted international pressure is needed to reverse this vicious campaign that promotes Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism at the expense of the rest of the population.”

In 2020, then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa set up a presidential task force to accelerate the redesignation of Tamil Hindu temples as Buddhist shrines. Archaeological Heritage Management in the Eastern Provincewhich consisted of senior security officials and nationalist Buddhist monks. Although the task force is no longer active, This policy continued under Rajapaksa’s successorPresident Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Wickremesinghe Public quarrel and Archaeological officer and Promises to address Tamil grievancesBut his government Almost nothing done Reduce or reverse illegal behavior.

Activists estimate that the government’s Department of Archaeology Around 600 Hindu temples in the eastern province have been surveyed, often as a prelude to Buddhist clergy and security forces denying entry to Hindu devotees. Several temples in the northern province have been similarly affected, as have properties belonging to Muslim communities. Other agencies, including the forest and wildlife department, often join forces with monks, security forces and the archaeology department to redesignate and deny access to land.

In August 2023, Eastern Province Governor Senthil Thondaman ordered a halt to the construction of a Buddhist temple in a village in Trincomalee district, where the majority of the population is Tamil. In response, a group of monks Threatened to “strangle” Governor.

On February 23, police and soldiers prevented Hindu devotees from celebrating a festival at the Kandasami Murugan Temple in Trincomalee District. According to a Sri Lankan human rights organization, the police officer in charge said that the land “belongs to the Buddhist and Archaeological Departments.”

In 2023, Human Rights Watch visited Purmoz In Trincomalee, Buddhist monks and their supporters, including soldiers and an armed man who wanted to build a Buddhist structure, clashed with local villagers. Tamil human rights group Equal Relief Sri Lanka (PEARL) Recording extensive development New Buddhist shrine and security forces base in the area.

Also in 2023, unknown attackers destroyed Vidugunari A Hindu temple on a hilltop in Vavuniya district. Hindus won a court ruling allowing them to reinstall the statue, but they say they have faced threats and obstruction from police. Witnesses told Human Rights Watch that in February 2024, during a U.S. Commission on International Religious FreedomSri Lankan military personnel escort Buddhist monks to the Vidukunari shrine, which they claim is an ancient Buddhist site. Police and soldiers obstructed and beat Hindu devotees, including an opposition lawmaker, despite a court order allowing them to celebrate the March 8 festival of Shiva. Eight people were arrested and allegedly beaten in front of a magistrate. Acquitted March 19. “Such incidents are causing racial conflict between communities,” said a Hindu man who was one of those arrested and is still facing threats from the police.

Activists claim that in February 2021, soldiers destroyed courantourmale Four months later, on 13 June, the military took part in a ceremony in Mullaitivu district. Laying the foundation Building a new Buddhist temple. Construction continues Ignoring court ordersJuly 2023, MagistrateT. Saravanarajah ordered The Buddha statues in Kulunthulmalai were removed after Buddhist monks and others allegedly threatened Hindu devotees during the harvest festival. US government report It was found that the police had taken no action against the perpetrators. In September, Saravanarajah resigned as a magistrate. Threaten his lifeHe has reportedly fled the country.

In some cases, government “land grabs” have targeted the private land and economic resources of Tamils ​​and other religious minorities.

exist TayidiLocated on the northern coast of Jaffna District Sri Lankan army builds a Buddhist temple Local residents and politicians claim that the land belongs to the Tamils. Cornerstone In 2021, then Army Chief of Staff, now Chief of Defense Staff Shavendra SilvaWho is Travel ban Because of his participation, through Command responsibilityThe surrounding area includes many military bases and farms operated by the military, whose land was allegedly seized from civilians during and after the civil war. In Jaffna, the military has Restricted access to Hindu temples The land has been controlled by the military since the war.

exist Mylanthanaimadu and Periya MaadhavanaiIn Batticaloa and neighboring Ampara district, hundreds of Tamil and Muslim dairy farmers who say they have grazed their cattle on the land for generations have been at odds with Sinhalese arable farmers, many of whom are former soldiers who have settled in the area with government support since 2010. The protesting herders have petitioned the government and the courts, claiming that authorities have threatened, spied on and intimidated them and that settlers have killed their livestock. In October 2023, settlers and monks joined forces to consolidate control over disputed land. A Buddhist monument was erected there.

Since the end of the war, the international community has worked to ensure justice for conflict-era crimes and address ongoing human rights violations, with the UN Human Rights Council at the center of its attention. The current Human Rights Council resolution, which calls for evidence collection for future war-related prosecutions and ongoing monitoring of human rights in Sri Lanka, expires in September.

“The Sri Lankan government’s repression of minorities will only stop when there is genuine accountability for past crimes. War crimes and ongoing abuses,” Ganguly said. “To reduce the risk of further violations, the UN Human Rights Council must extend its mandate for Sri Lanka for another two years.”