Catholic Church: army violence in Weliweriya unacceptable and unjustifiable
Colombo (AsiaNews / Agencies)
- The Catholic Church in Sri Lanka has condemned as "unacceptable and
unjustifiable" the violence
of Weliweriya, where the army opened fire on unarmed youths - killing three
- chasing them even as they sought refuge in the local church. Along
with hundreds of other people the young boys had been protesting against the
government since the end of July over a lack of drinking water for their
village and for the end to environmental pollution. Card. Malcolm
Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo and President of the Bishops' Conference of the
country, attended the funeral of a victim (an 18 year-old), where he read a
message on behalf of all the bishops of Sri Lankans.
"We
the Catholic Church categorically condemn the killing of these children and
desecrating the St. Anthony's Church, Weliweriya - said the cardinal - It was
sacrilege for anyone to enter such sacred precincts with arms in their hands
and to behave in a violent manner there. Such actions cannot be accepted by
anyone. "
Card. Ranjith
added "it is always necessary that we preserve this sanctity of sacred
premises of any religion and respect the people who enter such premises seeking
protection. We request that those found guilty be punished without
consideration of rank or status. We wish to reiterate at this point that we do
not accept attempts to resolve questions either, taking the law into one's own
hands".
"We do not
accept - he continued - using one's power in a repressive manner to suppress protests, even if
they get out of control. For every question, the best way out is the way of
peaceful dialogue and discussion".
President Mahinda Rajapaksa has announced compensation for the victims. But Ranjith said only an independent investigation, prosecution of those responsible, and "democratic behavior" by the authorities during future public protests would be an appropriate tribute to the victims.
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12/08/2009
23/08/2021 17:02
