Buddhist monks led 300 protesters from the office of the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) or National Heritage Party to demonstrate opposite a local UN office, reports the Associated Press.
The demonstrators were protesting against a visit from a delegation of the UN Office of Human Rights, complaining of unfair criticism and allegations of abuse since the end of the war in 2009.
The protesters voiced fears that the visit was just taking Sri Lanka a step closer to being subjected to an international war crimes investigation.
Placards showed the JHU’s concern for human rights in other nations, reading slogans such as ‘Your services are needed in Afghanistan and Iraq’.
Other placards were asking to ‘give peace and reconciliation a chance’, breaking from the usual norm of Buddhist monks demonstrating for the demolition of non-Buddhist places of worship.
See also:
UN team briefed on Sri Lanka’s post conflict ‘progress’ (15 Sep 2012)
Buddhists behaving badly (03 Aug 2012)
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