Sri Lanka urged to tackle ‘hate propaganda’ against Muslims

A United Nations human rights expert has called on Sri Lanka to take urgent action on “hate propaganda targeting Muslim communities” following a spate of deadly attacks on

A United Nations human rights expert has called on Sri Lanka to take urgent action on “hate propaganda targeting Muslim communities” following a spate of deadly attacks on churches and hotels on Easter Sunday. 

Ahmed Shaheed, the UN special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, issued the call on Monday at the end of a 12-day mission to the Buddhist-majority country in the Indian Ocean.

He said there was a “serious deficit of trust among ethnoreligious communities” in the wake of the ISIL-claimed attacks in April. 

More than 250 people were killed in the bombings, the deadliest since the end of a 26-year-civil war against Tamil separatist fighters in 2009.

“While the government promptly brought the situation more or less under control after the bomb blasts, many religious communities remain very concerned about their security because of incitement to hatred and violence by some religious extremists,” Shaheed said in a statement.

“The government must take action against the hate propaganda targeting Muslim communities that is being spread through unregulated media and is instigating ethnoreligious tension for political gain,” said Shaheed.

Failure to do so “will allow extremism to escalate and pose serious challenges to peace-building,” he added.