WUNRN
SRI LANKA - MUSLIMS KILLED IN
VIOLENCE BY BUDDHIST GROUP- VILLAGES & CIVILIANS ATTACKED
A
Sri Lankan Muslim woman carries her daughter while standing outside her burnt
house in Adhikarigoda , a village near Aluthgama town, 50 kilometers (31.25
miles) south of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Monday, June 16, 2014. At least three
Muslims were killed after a right-wing Buddhist group with alleged state
backing clashed with Muslims in southwestern Sri Lanka, a government minister
said Monday. Dozens of shops were burned, homes looted and some mosques
attacked in the violence Sunday night in the town of Aluthgama, local residents
said. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)The Associated Press
ALUTHGAMA,
Sri Lanka Hard-line Buddhists
hurled petrol bombs and looted homes and businesses in several Muslim towns in
Sri Lanka, killing three Muslims and seriously wounding more than 50 people in
the overnight attacks, authorities said Monday. The attack was led by a mob
from Bodu Bala Sena or Buddhist Power Force which rails against the
country's Muslim minority.The group has been gaining followers. .
Sithee Hameeda, a resident of Darga Nagar,
one of the three towns attacked, said the mob broke into her home and stole
jewelry and cash while her family hid in a room. "Soon the house caught
fire and we ran out because we could not stay with the smoke," she said.
"We hid in the marsh and came back only after everything was over.
Everything was destroyed we were left only with the wet clothes we were
wearing."
The
violence in the towns of Aluthgama, Darga Nagar and Beruwala erupted after a
Sunday afternoon rally by Bodu Bala Sena......
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UN
HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS CALLS FOR END TO INTER-RELIGIOUS &
MINORITY VIOLENCE
GENEVA (16 June 2014) - The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay expressed her deep alarm Monday at inter-communal violence taking place in south-western Sri Lanka in which two, or possibly three, people have reportedly been killed and scores injured.
The violence erupted on Sunday 15 June in
the town of Aluthgama following a large rally of the Buddhist group Bodu Bala
Sena (BBS) to protest an alleged assault a few days earlier by a Muslim youth
against the visiting monk at the local temple.
After the rally, violence erupted on both
sides as the BBS and supporters moved in procession through Muslim
neighbourhoods, allegedly chanting anti-Muslim slogans. Homes, shops and
mosques were reportedly attacked and some set ablaze. Despite a curfew and
deployment of approximately 1,200 police, violence apparently continued into
the night.
The Government must urgently do everything
it can to arrest this violence, curb the incitement and hate speech which is
driving it, and protect all religious minorities, the High Commissioner said.
I am very concerned this violence could
spread to Muslim communities in other parts of the country, Pillay
continued. The authorities must immediately bring the perpetrators of
such attacks to book and make it clear to the religious leadership on both
sides, and to political parties and the general public, that there is no place
for inflammatory rhetoric and incitement to violence.
At the same time, the security forces must
use appropriate measures to contain the situation and ensure this tragic
situation is not compounded by any excessive use of force, she added.
During her visit to Sri Lanka in August
2013, and in her subsequent reports to the Human Rights Council, the High
Commissioner warned about the rising level of attacks against religious
minorities and the incitement of violence by Sinhala Buddhist nationalist
groups. The Government had promised amendments to enhance existing
provisions of the Penal Code and ICCPR Act with regard to hate speech, but
these have yet to be adopted.
The Human Rights Council in March 2014
expressed its alarm at the significant surge in attacks against members of religious
minority groups in Sri Lanka, including Hindus, Muslims and Christians.