Colombage Melani Manel Perera

Opposition parliamentarians, human rights groups and journalists' associations say the rule, passed in just 24 hours by parliament, risks stifling any kind of free debate before the next presidential and parliamentary elections that will be held by the end of 2024.

Tomorrow the Sri Lankan parliament will begin examining a controversial government bill. Last year, 8,000 complaints were filed, 3,000 related to social media. Critics warn that the proposed legislation is flawed, its vague definitions of terms and offences creating considerable risks for arbitrary and subjective interpretations.

A unity bill has been proposed to promote ethnic, religious, and social harmony 14 years after the end of the civil war, but the Office for Missing Persons, the Office for Restorative Justice, and the Truth, Unity, and Reconciliation Commission are not represented on the council that proposed it. For the director of the diocesan Human Rights Office in Kandy, “National reconciliation cannot be enforced from the top down”.

The murdered journalist was a great opponent of the then Rajapaksa government. The children at the grave ask that the pain be directed towards completing their father's work on press freedom and rights in Sri Lanka, while Amnesty International has called on the government to end impunity for his murder.

In Kalpitiya, a local parish priest, Fr Sampath, is involved in this project as a show of harmony among religious communities. “It is in unity among all the religious leaders of this country that we can create peace," said Venerable Diyasena Thero who appreciates such a gesture.

In 2008 Father Nandana Manatunga set up the Human Rights Office in Kandy for victims of torture, gender-based violence, and the families of the missing or unjustly detained. The Christmas season, he told AsiaNews, is a time to share joy with everyone, not only Christians, but also Buddhists, Hindus, and Muslims.

In his Christmas message, the Archbishop of Colombo reminds the faithful that Jesus was born with “no property” like many in Sri Lanka today. The prelate also renewed his call to President Wickremesinghe to hold an international investigation into the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks.

It will focus on crimes spread through social media. The institution in the aftermath of the arrest of a controversial, self-proclaimed monk who allegedly mocked Buddhism. Marimuttu Sathivel, an Anglican priest and human rights activist, commented to AsiaNews: 'The real problem is extremist politicians who artfully create religiously motivated clashes.

The experts' warning linked to the severe drought that will hit the island early next year. "Failure would make it much more difficult to get out, given the country's economic crisis compounded by climate change. We estimate that 70 percent of people have difficulty eating regularly and properly," said Renuka Jayatissa, a clinical nutrition specialist.

It is the first time in 200 years, and the breakthrough came thanks to a petition to the Supreme Court by one member of the community, Jeewarathnam Sureshkumar, who told AsiaNews: 'Without an address many other rights are also impossible. We will monitor the situation until all the communities on each plantation have obtained enforcement'.

Appeals unheeded: President Wickremesinghe appointed Deshabandu Thennakoon, whom the same local commission of inquiry into the massacres accused of negligence, as inspector general of Sri Lanka's police. The Catholic Church: "An insult to the victims of the attacks."

Freddy Gamage, a Catholic activist, received the Order of Timor-Leste, the country’s highest award, from President José Ramos Horta for his support of its right to self-determination. With his online publication Meepura, he promotes human rights at home.