The Lawyers Collective in Sri Lanka issued a statement Saturday, condemning the violence unleashed on civil protesters and the killing of a number of the same. The statement called on the Government of Sri Lanka to control its armed forces whilst strongly condemning the Government’s continuous ferocity against peaceful protesters.
‘The Government has displayed total disrespect to the constitutional guarantees on civil liberties of its own citizens. Â Evidence clearly establishes that deplorable levels of force including live bullets were used on the unarmed villagers. The assailants also assaulted journalists and grabbed their cameras by force when they were doing their job covering the event. Lawyers Collective urges stern actions against those responsible for ordering and carrying out this brutal attack.
The legal fraternity urges the Government to control its military and ensure that they are used for legitimate purposes only. In a constitutional democracy, attacking peaceful unarmed protesters or disrupting legitimate civil activities of the citizens is not a legitimate objective of the Armed Forces or the law enforcement authorities.