Download Sri Lanka - Aid to the Church in Need

Persecuted and Forgotten?
A report on Christians oppressed for their Faith 2013-2015
SRI LANKA Country Profile and incident reports
Total Population: 21m
Buddhists 70.1%, Muslims 9.7%, Hindus 12.6%, Christians 7.4% (Catholics 6.1%, Protestants
1.3%) Others 0.2%
Christian population: 1.55m
When long-standing Sri Lanka leader Mahinda Rajapaksa was ousted in elections in January
2015, there were widespread reports that his increasingly dictatorial approach and
intolerance towards minorities – including Christians – had cost him the presidency.
Rajapaksa’s family was said to have close links with militant Buddhist group Bodu Bala Sena
(meaning “Buddhist Power Force”) which was linked to attacks on Christian and Muslim
minorities. Immediately setting a different course to Mr Rajapaksa, the new president,
Maithripala Sirisena, quickly vowed to curtail his own power in a move that encouraged
minorities which were, according to The Economist had been “worried by [government]
repression” since the end of Sri Lanka’s bitter civil war in 2009.i
Buddhist extremists destroyed or forced the closure of numerous churches: in 2014, about
60 churches and chapels were attacked.ii In 2013, a total of 105 attacks were reported.iii
Bodu Bala Sena was founded by two Buddhist monks, former members of Buddhist political
party Jathika Hela Urumaya (variously translated as “National Front of Liberation” or
“National Heritage Party”). The founders said Jathika Hela Urumaya was not militant
enough to protect Buddhism.iv Bodu Bala Sena was said to have orchestrated uprisings in
two Muslim-majority towns in June 2014, on the Sinhalese-dominated southern coast, that
lead to the deaths of four people and injured more than 80.v Muslims and Christians alike
had been subjected to hate speech and violence in the months leading up to the incident.vi
Moderate Buddhist monk Wataraka Vijitha Thero was found naked and beaten unconscious
after criticising the BBS following the anti-Muslim riots.vii
The resurgence of Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism followed the 2009 victory of the Sri
Lankan government in the civil war. Nationalists have voiced strong opposition to people
converting from Buddhism to other religions, even though this is allowed by law. Such
conversions are often interpreted as a result of coercion and force – and as an attack on the
country’s traditional religious culture. Jathika Hela Urumaya, which is part of the ruling
alliance, unsuccessfully tried to legislate against “unethical” conversions in parliament in
2009 and again in 2011.viii
However, a number of measures have been introduced by the Religious Affairs Ministry,
which have been interpreted as efforts to assert Buddhism and repress minority faiths. A
cap on the building of places of worship was announced: the ministry’s secretary M. D. K.
Dissanayake said that the existing number of places was sufficient for the current needs and
that permission from the Ministry of Buddha Sasana and (Buddhist) Religious Affairs would
be required for new buildings.ix The ministry also proposed a new law seeking action against
publications, both print and online, that defame the original teachings and traditions of the
country’s major religions. According to the bill drafted by the Ministry, a Buddhist
Publications Regulatory Board would be formed with authority to regulate any publication
that defames Buddhism, its philosophy or traditions.x
The UN refugee agency accused Sri Lanka of breaking international law after it forced out
Pakistani asylum seekers – including Christians –without a fair hearing in 2014. Adrian
Edwards, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said:
“Fundamentally, this is a breach of the principle of no forced returns. That’s a clear violation
of international law.” The country is not a signatory to the 1951 refugees’ convention.
Hundreds of Pakistani Christians fleeing persecution have fled to Sri Lanka seeking safety.xi
INCIDENT REPORTS
September 2013: The house of a pastor of the Assembly of God Church in the
Agunukolapalassa area of Hambanthota District was set ablaze on the 2nd. Plastic bags filled
with kerosene and petrol were thrown at his home. The pastor and his wife were awoken by
the attack and the mob fled. The pastor had received threats prior to the attack.
September 2013: Buddhist monk Pitipana Seelawansa Thero and four others from Padukka
Puraanas Viharaya Temple, led a mob attack on Jeevana Diya Church in the Meegoda area
of Colombo District on 8th. The monks beat the pastor until he fell unconscious, and
destroyed church property. The attackers accused the minister of forcibly converting
Buddhists to Christianity.xii
December 2013: On Christmas Eve, three churches in southern Sri Lanka were attacked by
mobs: the Assemblies of God Church in Angunukolapalassa, the Assemblies of God Church in
Hikkaduwa and the Light House Church Hikkaduwa.xiii
January 2014: Buddhist mobs attacked three Christian places of worship saying they were
illegal and were trying to convert Buddhists. The Assemblies of God Church and Calvary Free
Church were attacked in Hikkaduwa on Saturday 12th the same day a chapel belonging to
Church of the Foursquare Gospel was set ablaze in Pitipana, near Colombo. The churches in
Hikkaduwa suffered extensive damage, with windows and furniture smashed and Bibles set
ablaze. A note was left outside the chapel in Pitipana, which was saved before it burned
down, threatening further violence. It was one of three churches attacked on Christmas Eve.
Policemen were stationed outside the church after further threats, but a mob of around 250
people broke through the gates of the church, as captured by this video on Derana TV.xiv
January 2014: The National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka said police questioned
several ministers, asking whether their churches were legal, and in some cases warning
them not to meet because of threats from Buddhist monks. Ministers from the Pastors
Fellowship in Vavuniya, northern Sri Lanka, and the Church of Grace in Warakapola, near
Colombo, were both questioned by police. Meanwhile, the house of the pastor of the
Rathgama Christian Church, near Hikkaduwa, was vandalised and threats were made against
the Suveya Doratuwa Church in Bibile, eastern Sri Lanka.xv
February 2014: At Holy Family Church, Asgiriya, Kandy District, a 250-strong mob led by 11
Buddhist monks stormed the minister’s home, demanding he stop services forthwith. The
mob dragged out the pastor and his wife, assaulting them.xvi
April 2014: The government of Sri Lanka set up the Religious Disputes Unit in response to
increasing religious intolerance against minorities by some Buddhist extremist groups. The
Religious Disputes Unit’s agents answer to the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Buddha
Sasana. Fr Emmanuel Sebamalai said, “The special unit will not solve the crisis we are
experiencing. Its creation proves that there is a problem between Buddhism and other
religions. However, the government supports Buddhists and helps their radical elements
when they attack minorities with impunity.” Fr Oswald B Firth, OMI, a former national
director of Caritas Sri Lanka who now lives in Australia, sad the religious police “is the height
of irony for the simple reason that religious intolerance (ostensibly the government’s reason
for the force) is practiced by Bodu Bala Sena, which operates under the protection of the
Ministry of Defence.”xvii
June 2014: A mob attacked a Christian home in Madu village, Mannar hospitalising a
minister and three members of his congregation. The minister and members of the
congregation had gone to the home where there was due to be a meeting with police about
threats made to Christians at a prayer meeting there the previous day. But before police
arrived some 150 villagers surrounded the house, and 40 forced their way in, beating and
assaulting the Christians.xviii
June 2014: A female Christian worker in Kandy district was hospitalised for two days after
being brutally attacked by a 25-strong mob. The mob, which included five Buddhist monks,
raided a house in Waththegama where a prayer meeting was being held. The woman was
dragged to the village temple where she was drenched with water and partially strangled.
She was threatened with death if she entered the village again.xix
July 2014: Following accusations of unethical conversions Ravana Balaya, a Sinhalese
Buddhist nationalist organisation, warned Evangelical churches in Polonnaruwa to stop their
activities. Members of the group, including Buddhist monks and Hindu priests, visited more
than 20 prayer services from 15th to 19th. The Venerable Ittekande Saddhatissa Thero,
General Secretary of Ravana Balaya said: “We have gotten hundreds of complaints from
Buddhists and Hindus that Evangelical pastors convert Buddhists to their religion and offer
gifts and money to them.” But Pastor O. S. Fernando, president of the Pastors’ Fellowship
Group in Polonnruwa, denied the claims: “We never convert by force [or] put up new
houses to attract the faithful. It’s their own decision.”xx
August 2014: A meeting at the Centre for Society and Religion in Colombo was attacked by
Buddhist extremists on the 4th. Priests, Sisters, lay people, human rights activists, lawyers
and embassy representatives were meeting at the centre, looking at ways of helping
families of people who went missing during the civil war locate their loved ones. The
extremists broke into the building, disrupted the meeting and threatened to demolish the
centre, which is run by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate.xxi
September 2014: Speaking at the 27th session of the UN Human Rights Council, the new UN
High Commissioner for Human Rights, Prince Zeid Al-Hussein condemned violence against
religious minorities. “I am alarmed at threats currently being levelled against the Human
rights community of Sri Lanka, as well as respective victims and witnesses, I also deplore
recent incitements in violence against the country’s Muslim and Christian minorities.”xxii
August-October 2014: Christians fleeing religious persecution in Pakistan were among more
than 100 refugee seekers deported after legal attempts to stop them being repatriated
failed. At least 142 Pakistanis were arrested in police sweeps of Pakistani neighbourhoods in
Negombo, western Sri Lanka, beginning on 9th June. The Central Secretariat of Pakistan
Christian Congress alleged Pakistan’s ruling Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz Group conspired
with the Intelligence Bureau of Pakistan to fabricate false evidence to disprove Christian
asylum seekers’ claims. UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues Rita Izsák criticised the
deportations, saying: “Most asylum seekers from Pakistan belong to religious minorities,
including Ahmadiyya Muslim, Christian and Shia groups that are often subjected to
persecution, discrimination and violence in Pakistan. Many of them are being deported
despite being registered with UNHCR and having their first instance interviews still
pending.”xxiii
January 2015: Dilantha Withanage, chief executive of Bodu Bala Sena announced the
formation of a new political party backed by the group. Claiming that the party would not be
against any religious group, but merely about protecting Buddhist values he said: “We wish
we had a leader like [India’s] Narendra Modi… There are lots of similarities between India
and Sri Lanka. Both of us face threats from Muslims and minorities who are actively engaged
in conversions. When Sinhalese families have a child or two, minorities have half a dozen or
more. When foreign money plays behind such activities, we need to resist. So Modi and his
party is a great inspiration for us.”xxiv
January 2015: After the Vatican confirmed Pope Francis’s three-day visit, Bodu Bala Sena
called on the pontiff to acknowledge Christian oppression in the island’s history. Bodu Bala
Sena’s leader Galagoda Atte Gnanasara said: “Pope Francis must apologise to Buddhists for
the atrocities committed by Christian colonial governments in South Asia.”xxv
March 2015: State officials demanded that the pastor of a National Gospel Church in
Nivithigala, Ratnapura district register his church – even though this is not a legal
requirement. The congregation suspects Buddhist monks pressured officials to take
action.xxvi
i
The Economist, 17/01/15 http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21639559-new-president-promises-newleaf-politics-ask-siri
ii
Indian Express, 20/01/15
iii
Ecumenical News Friday, 25/07/14 http://www.ecumenicalnews.com/article/buddhist-extremists-accusedof-persecuting-sri-lanka-christians-25786
iv
Spero News, 16/12/12
v
Indian Express, 20/01/15
vi
Asian Tribune, 18/06/14 http://www.asiantribune.com/node/80021
vii
AsiaNews, 16/06/14
viii
Fides, 17/12/11
ix
Barnabus Fund, 09/05/14
x
[Sri Lanka] Daily Mirror, 16/08/13
xi
Al Jazeera, 13/08/14
xii
Morning Star News, 26/09/13
xiii
World Watch Monitor, 28/01/14
xiv
World Watch Monitor, 28/01/14; BBC News (online) 13/01/14
xv
World Watch Monitor, 28/01/14
xvi
Release international, 11/03/14
xvii
Asia News, 06/05/14
xviii
Release International, 11/06/04
xix
Release International,11/06/10
xx
UCAN, 19/07/14
xxi
Vatican Insider, 08/08/14 http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/world-news/detail/articolo/sri-lanka-srilanka-sri-lanka-35681/
xxii
News First, 08/09/14 http://newsfirst.lk/english/2014/09/new-un-human-rights-chief-deplores-violencemulsims-christians-sl/52775
xxiii
HRW, 02/07/14,
http://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=14942&LangID=E#sthash.nbBPgwYo
.dpuf 14 Aug 2014 UN; Pakistan Christian Post, 02/10/14
xxiv
Indian Express, 20/01/15
xxv
Catholic Herald, 02/01/15
xxvi
Release International, 29/03/15 http://www.releaseinternational.org/prayer-shield-29th-march-2015-srilanka/
www.acnuk.org/persecution