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President vows to allow peaceful, non-violent assembly

25 Jul 2022

  • Moots Viharamahadevi Park, New Town Hall, Hyde Park, and Campbell Park for protests
  • Tells diplomats that American Civil Liberties Union does not permit blocking Govt. buildings
President Ranil Wickremesinghe had reaffirmed Sri Lanka’s commitment to upholding the rights of peaceful, non-violent assembly at a meeting with Colombo-based diplomats held last Friday (22), the President’s Media Division (PMD) announced yesterday. The meeting had been convened to brief the diplomats on the controversial removal of the protestors who had been illegally occupying the Presidential Secretariat in the early hours of Friday.  The PMD press release stated that President Wickremesinghe had stated that both Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 14 (1)(b) of the Constitution of Sri Lanka, which governs the rights of peaceful assembly, would be upheld by the Government. However, the President had stated that the instructions given by the American Civil Liberties Union, a non-profit organisation founded in 1920 “to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the US”, stated that protestors were not permitted to block Government buildings and interfere with other purposes the property was designed for. Following the meeting on Friday, US Ambassador to Sri Lanka posted on Twitter that she had expressed grave concern about the disruption to the protests at the meeting. “Just met with President Ranil WIckremesinghe to express my grave concern over the unnecessary and deeply troubling escalation of violence against protestors overnight. The President and Cabinet have an opportunity and an obligation to respond to the calls of Sri Lankans for a better future. This is not the time to crack down on citizens, but instead to look ahead at the immediate and tangible steps the Government can take to regain the trust of the people, restore stability, and rebuild the economy,” she had said. The President had also briefed the diplomats on the measures being taken to ensure that non-violent protests were allowed to proceed within the city without endangering property or lives, the press release stated. Facilities within Colombo, such as the Open-Air Theatre at Viharamahadevi Park, New Town Hall, Hyde Park, and Campbell Park were all being made available to non-violent protests, he had said. Addressing concerns regarding the “GotaGoGama” protest site, it was explained that it had not been removed by security forces, “contrary to erroneous social media reports”. Furthermore, the diplomats had also been briefed by the Attorney General on the legal avenues being pursued, including producing all those arrested by the Police before the Colombo Magistrate Court, the press release added.


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