In their latest report, Amnesty International details how the Rajapaksa regime rose to power "on the promise of authoritarian leadership" and continued scapegoating and targetting of Muslims, "to distract from other political and economic issues". 

Amnesty maintains that since the end of the armed conflict harassment and violence against Muslims has continued with the tacit approval of the state. The ongoing harassment includes "campaigns against halal certification of food items, attacks on Muslim businesses, properties and homes, and false narratives perpetrated to promote the boycott of Muslim businesses". 

Commenting on these violations, Kyle Ward, Amnesty International’s Deputy Secretary-General, stated:

“The Sri Lankan authorities must break this alarming trend and uphold their duty to protect Muslims from further attacks, hold perpetrators accountable, and end the use of government policies to target, harass and discriminate against the Muslim community.” 

Amnesty also notes religious persecution in Sri Lanka also extends to Christians with 181 incidents of violence or harassment towards Christians reported between 2009 and 2016. This has been perpetrated by "Sinhala Buddhist groups, state officials, religious leaders and even neighbours".

The report notes that the persecution of Muslims did not desist during the Sirisena administration with civil society groups documenting 64 anti-Muslim incidents between 2015 and 2016. This included hate speech, threats and intimidation, discrimination, destruction of property, economic embargoes and physical violence. In 2017, in the southern coastal town of Ginthota, at least two mosques, along with Muslim-owned homes, vehicles and businesses were damaged in anti-Muslim mob violence. 

Amnesty International further reports that in 2018 further riots broke out in the Central Province town of Digana. The compensation claimed for damages amounted to 355 houses, 233 shops, 83 vehicles, 20 mosques and two temples. Witness accounts further detail how Sri Lanka's elite paramilitary police unit, the Special Task Force (STF), participated in the riots assaulting Muslim clerics and leaders.

The report further details the deliberate targeting of Muslims through draconian legislation such as the Prevention of Terrorism Act. This legislation has been used to detain prominent Muslims such as Ramzy Razeek, Hejaaz Hizbullah, and Ahnaf Jazeem.

The report concludes by calling on the Sri Lankan authorities to repeal its PTA and ensure those detained have unrestricted, regular access to their lawyers and family members. Amnesty maintains the need for Sri Lanka to safeguard the rights of Muslims for the criminal justice system to not be misused to target or harass minority communities.

The report further emphasises the need for a "prompt, thorough, independent, and impartial investigation into all allegations of human rights violations and abuses during attacks and violence against Muslims".

Read the full report here.