Govt. condemns Amnesty report

The Government has condemned the latest report released recently by the Amnesty International. “Amnesty is being pushed by the same group who back the LTTE. They are paid-up by them,” government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said.

“Amnesty is always against Sri Lanka and they never see anything positive. We accept still there are some problems, but they need to see what we have done good also,” Rambukwella has told Reuters.

Amnesty International said the Sri Lankan Government is intensifying a crackdown on critics in order to tighten its grip on power and urged Commonwealth countries not to hold a summit in November. The London-based rights group, citing specific rights abuses in a 78-page report entitled ‘Sri Lanka’s Assault on Dissent’ said a crackdown on critics had intensified through threats, harassment, imprisonment and violent attacks.

“Violent repression of dissent and the consolidation of political power go hand in hand in Sri Lanka,” Amnesty International’s Deputy Asia Pacific Director Polly Truscott said. “Over the past few years we have seen space for criticism decrease. There is a real climate of fear in Sri Lanka, with those brave enough to speak out against the Government often having to suffer badly for it.”

The rights group said the report was based on interviews with witnesses, lawyers and activists, legal affidavits, court records, reports by Sri Lankan, United Nations, and international human rights organisations, as well as local and international media reports.

The report also said journalists, the judiciary, human rights activists and opposition politicians were among those who have been targeted in a pattern of Government-sanctioned abuse, often involving the security forces or their proxies.