^{File photograph: Malcolm Ranjith and Mahinda Rajapaksa}

The head of Sri Lanka’s Roman Catholic Church called on the United Nations to immediately conduct a probe into the COVID-19 coronavirus, claiming that it is a man-made illness and those responsible should be prosecuted for “genocide”.

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith claimed that the coronavirus is “the work of a rich and powerful nation”, though declined to name any particular countries. 

“Some of these viruses that we are talking about are the product of unscrupulous aimless experimentation,” he said. “We have to say that we must stop this kind of experimentation that results in the loss of life and cause pain and suffering to humanity.”

The archbishop, an ethnic Sinhalese who has a long history of supporting hardline Sinhala Buddhist figures and the Rajapaksa clan, and has repeatedly rejected an international probe into the massacre of tens of thousands of Tamil civilians by the Sri Lankan military.

He has previously stated that the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka has rejected resolutions on accountability for atrocities in Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council, calling "such efforts by western powers is an insult on the intelligence of the people of Sri Lanka”. Ranjith has also denied allegations of war crimes committed by the Sri Lankan military that Tamil bishops made to US officials in previous years.