World News | Sri Lanka's Cardinal Asks UN Rights Body to Intervene in the Investigation of Easter Sunday Attacks

Colombo, Mar 7 (PTI) The Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith on Monday urged the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to intervene in the investigation of the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings and ensure victims of the heinous terror attack get justice.

Nine suicide bombers belonging to local Islamist extremist group National Thawheed Jamaat linked to ISIS had carried out a series of blasts that tore through three churches and as many luxury hotels in Sri Lanka, killing 258 people, including 11 Indians, and injuring over 500 on the Easter Sunday on April 21, 2019.

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Earlier this week, Cardinal Ranjith had met Pope Francis in Rome as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet in Geneva and raised concerns over the “slow and inadequate progress” made by Sri Lankan security officials in this case.

“Instead of uncovering the truth behind the attack and prosecuting those responsible, there are attempts to harass and intimidate those who clamour for justice. As a result, nearly three years after the horrendous crime, we are still in the dark as to what really happened on that Easter Sunday,” he said.

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He called upon “the UNHRC and all its member countries to support the continuation of evidence gathering initiated by the Council last year and to devise measures to ensure an investigation to unravel the truth behind the Easter Sunday massacre”.

Frustration has been mounting over the Sri Lankan government's handling of this high-profile case.

According to activists, the campaign for justice for the victims will intensify in the run-up to the third anniversary of the attack.

The bombings had stirred a political storm as the then government headed by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe were blamed for their inability to prevent the attacks despite prior intelligence being made available.

During his tenure, Sirisena formed a presidential panel to probe the attacks.

In its report, the panel said Sirisena and a host of other top defence officials, including Fernando and former IGP Jayasundera were guilty of ignoring prior intelligence.

The panel report had recommended criminal action against them.

The Catholic Church in Sri Lanka had repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction over the Easter Sunday terror attack investigations undertaken by the government.

In November 2021, former Sri Lanka Police Chief Pujith Jayasundera was charged with criminal negligence for failing to act despite receiving prior intelligence warnings in this case.

A total of 855 charges of criminal negligence were levelled against Jayasundera, lawyers said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)