UNP warns Wanathamulla crisis will feature at UNHRC next month
Friday, 21 February 2014 00:45
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Slamming the Government for its highhanded tactics and attempt to forcibly evict residents in Wanathamulla, the main opposition United National Party has warned that it will be the latest violation to feature at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva next month.
Issuing a statement, the UNP charged that the abduction and subsequent release of Wanathamulla resident Samaradheera Sunil was the work of the security forces. The abduction had followed a heated exchange of words between Sunil and Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa when the latter visited the area, the Opposition charged.
“That a man’s home is his castle is a right acknowledged universally,” the UNP said, adding that the Rajapaksa Government was attempting to deny people of Colombo that right through intimidation.
The main Opposition party said that the residents’ anger against UPFA strongman and suspect in the Bharatha Lakshaman Premachaandra murder case R. Duminda Silva and the massive demonstration against Sunil’s abduction had forced the Government to release the resident.
“This incident has already got attention internationally. There is no doubt that this latest human rights violation is being studied at the UNHRC in Geneva already. It will result in various conclusions being drawn in March,” the UNP statement said.
The Rajapaksa Administration was determined to suspect legitimate civilian protests, the UNP said, recalling the shooting of unarmed protestors in Weliweriya, the Katunayake free trade zone and Chilaw.
“The abduction of Samaradheera Sunil from Wanathamulla and the way the people of his area stormed the streets to obtain his release is the beginning of a series of events that are poised to unfold in this country,” the UNP said.
It was proof that the entire political spectrum and civil society was ready to march against the abuse of power and brutality of the executive presidential system, the Opposition party charged.
