By: Isuru Parakrama
Colombo (LNW): Deprose Muchena, Senior Director of the global human rights watchdog Amnesty International, spilled the tea by slamming the Sri Lankan government, in what he suggested as Sri Lanka being one of the many countries that disrupted the right to protest of the people.
The Amnesty Senior Director made this remark addressing the regional launch of the organisation’s global annual report in Colombo today (28), as the key speaker.
Muchena emphasised that human rights came under attack, and repression has taken the course in the most ‘calculated order,’ adding that repression did not pick and choose where it happened, as global protest movements being faced with brute force, with killings, with mass arrests and with all manner human rights abuses. This happened not only in Sri Lanka, but also in the region, as well as the continent, he pointed out.
“We know that there is a discussion around support from the International Monetary Fund that is being discussed between your government and yourselves. Amnesty International calls for transparency on that deal so that everything that has been debated in within the public purview. Social protection to be prioritised and for human rights to be enhanced because no aid mechanism should diminish human rights. Everything that happens between countries as part of cooperation should enhance the protection of people, their safety and their ability to pursue their own rights,” Muchena noted.
Mr. Muchena aims to use his presence as the Senior Director of Amnesty International to highlight and stress on the urgent need to protect and promote the rights of 22 million people living in Sri Lanka.
