Colombo (AsiaNews) - In the first 100 days of the Maithripala Sirisena government, the intensity and the number of attacks, threats and intimidation against dissenting voices were down on 2014, and the regime of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
This is what emerges from the latest report of Inform, a center that documents the state of human rights in Sri Lanka. Titled "In the first 100 days of new presidency 9th January - 19th April 2015," the document describes all the incidents that occurred in the country in this period.
While noting an improvement over the previous executive, the Centre points out that very little has been done to tackle the impunity linked to past violence. Also, attempts to suppress dissenting voices continue.
This is the case for example of a protest which took place in Colombo, the capital, on February 19 last. Members of the National Freedom Front (NFF), a political party affiliated to Rajapaksa, attacked some social activists who were distributing leaflets because on some party members.
The report then cites the case of the foreign journalists of two private TV stations, whose equipment was seized on suspicion of collaborating with the British Channel 4. The British TV network in recent years has produced several documentaries, accusing the Sri Lankan army of war crimes during the conflict between Tamils and Sinhalese.
The document also cites the story of the human rights activist Balendran Jeyakumari (see photo). Although she was released on 10 March after nearly a year of detention, the women is still under restriction and cannot travel abroad. In addition, every month has to report to her local police station. (MMP)