COLOMBO, Sri Lanka
The attacks on Muslim communities that killed at least four people in Sri Lanka on Sunday must be investigated, according to calls from local and international rights groups.
While President Mahinda Rajapaksa has posted on social media website Twitter that the government will conduct an investigation, activists are urging the government to be more active and vocal in preventing religious and ethnic abuse.
Human Rights Watch said in a statement released Thursday that Sri Lankan authorities should not stop at arresting those involved in anti-Muslim violence, but should also investigate those who encouraged it.
“That means taking a hard look at the role and relationship between extremist Buddhist groups like the BBS (Bodu Bala Sena) and the Sri Lankan security forces,” said Human Rights Watch Asia director Brad Adams. "The Rajapaksa government has long been ineffectual in holding those responsible for abuses to account.”
The clashes, which killed three Muslims and a Tamil who worked on a Muslim farm, started after hardline Sinhalese Buddhist nationalist group Bodu Bala Sena held a rally in southwestern town Aluthgama, before marching into predominantly Muslim areas.
Anadolu Agency's correspondent has reported that police have been put on alert near mosques in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo, during the weekly Friday prayers. The Muslim Council of Sri Lanka has urged worshippers to return to their homes immediately after the Friday prayers.
The Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission said Bodu Bala Sena plan to force Muslim businessmen and residents out of certain areas, and directly criticized the role of the Sri Lankan authorities.
"The inaction of the police and the Special Task Force point to directions from above to aid and abet criminals engaged in violence and fail to carry out their duties," said a statement released by the Commission on Thursday. "If the President is genuine about his promise of protection to the Muslim community, then it is his duty to arrest all those officers that aided and abetted this violence and who failed to carry out their duties as required by law."
The Muslim Council of Sri Lanka also released a letter to Rajapaksa, calling on him "to immediately investigate the actions of all extremist groups and ban those who have been carryout a campaign of hate, intimidation and violence against Muslims, Christians and other religious minorities."
"The violence in Aluthgama and Beruwela is not something that happened spontaneously, but was a well planned and coordinated assault to attack the Muslim community and their economic base," the letter said.
After complaints about hate speech, social networking website Facebook removed the pages of Bodu Bala Sena and its General Secretary Galagodaaththe Gnanasara, which had thousands of followers, on Friday.
The rights groups have also urged a police investigation into an attack on Vataraka Vijitha Thero, a Buddhist monk known for his promotion of inter-faith harmony who was found with hands and feet bounds and with cut wounds on Thursday. He has previously been publicly threatened by Gnanasara.
Bodu Bala Sena, which literally translates to Buddhist Power Force, is a right-wing Buddhist group that was established after the end of Sri Lanka's decades-long civil war in 2009. They belong to the country's Sinhalese Buddhist majority and have been accused of inciting hate against other religions in Sri Lanka.
www.aa.com.tr/en
