Justice for victims of Easter Sunday attack: CMU stands in solidarity with citizens’ action on 21 April

 Four years have elapsed since the terror attacks carried out by suicide bombers against families gathered in churches and hotels on Easter Sunday – Pic by Shehan Gunasekara

• Calls for observation of 2 minutes of silence at 8:45 a.m. on 21 April at workplaces to express their solidarity with the call made for justice for the Easter Sunday victims 

The Ceylon Mercantile, Industrial and General Workers’ Union (CMU) in a statement yesterday expressed its solidarity with the call made by the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka, led by the Cardinal, “upon citizens, irrespective of their racial or religious differences to create a strong human chain, on 21 Friday, April, calling for truth and justice for the Easter attack victims”. 

It said four years have elapsed since the terror attacks carried out by suicide bombers against families gathered in churches and hotels on Easter Sunday across Sri Lanka that saw the deaths of 272 people. The dead included 45 children, while scores were seriously injured, and 179 children lost one or both parents. In its statement on the fourth year of the attack the Church has pointed out that “it has not been possible up to now to identify the perpetrators behind these attacks and to bring those responsible to book”. 

Despite the recommendations of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) to institute criminal proceedings against former President Maithripala Sirisena and others, no action has been taken by the Attorney General to do so. Neither has the Police Department adhered to the recommendations of the PCoI to initiate Departmental investigations into the conduct of several senior police officers. 

What is especially disturbing about the Easter Sunday attacks is that it is now widely suspected that these horrific attacks could have been callously engineered in order to gain political advantage electorally. The Church in its statement referred to above has said “it is clear to us and to many others that these attacks were a plot organised to gain political power”. As way back as May 2021, former Attorney General Dappula De Livera said, “There is a Grand Conspiracy with regard to the 2019 April Attacks.” Only now has he been called by the Terrorism Investigation Division to record a statement on his comment. 

In Sri Lanka successive governments have over the years sought to brazenly protect perpetrators of acts of violence by politicians, state agencies and individuals against the people, even when there has been overwhelming evidence of such crimes. For too long they have got away with this. The statement of the Church has pointed out that in addition to Presidents as well as politicians who ruled the country since the attacks “…the present President and his government and some corrupt state officials have been and are a part of an attempt to hide the truth behind these attacks in order to protect the culprits”. It is utterly hypocritical of this same government that has failed to pursue the truth behind these brutal terrorist attacks to now be in a great hurry to bring an Anti-terrorism Bill. The efforts of the Church to confront this abuse of state power must be lauded and supported. 

The CMU has always stood for justice especially for the oppressed and the exploited. We have consistently called for the prosecution of perpetrators of crimes against the people. In keeping with this proud tradition, we call upon our members to support the democratic protest action, wherever they can, on 21 April and to observe 2 minutes of silence at 8:45 a.m. at their workplaces to express their solidarity with the call made for justice for the Easter Sunday victims.