Cardinal slams Sri Lanka army for attack inside church

Christian priests and nuns stage a demonstration in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo on Wednesday, Au. 7, 2013, to denounce the August 1 military crackdown of a protest by villagers against the contamination of their ground water supply at a village just outside Colombo. AFP PHOTO/ISHARA S. KODIKARA

COLOMBO—The Roman Catholic Church Wednesday slammed Sri Lanka’s army for storming a church and assaulting residents trying to escape soldiers firing on villagers protesting against contaminated water.

In an unusually strongly worded statement, the Archbishop of Colombo condemned “unhesitatingly” the military shooting that killed three people and wounded over 50 others at a village just outside the capital last Thursday.

In a statement Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith accused Sri Lanka’s army of violating the sanctity of St. Anthony’s church, beating up people who rushed there to escape the army shooting.

“We wish to condemn unhesitatingly the attack that was carried out by some elements of the (armed) forces on people who had sought refuge at St. Anthony’s church,” the archbishop said.

“Such actions cannot be accepted by anyone… We do not accept using one’s power in a repressive manner to suppress protests, even if they get out of hand.”

Kids beaten

Local media reports said soldiers barged into the church, ordered some of the people—including children—to kneel down and then beat them with sticks.

Troops were also accused of opening fire inside the church compound.

Christian priests and nuns joined hundreds of faithful in staging a candle-light vigil in the capital Wednesday to protest the military action.

The vigil and the cardinal’s statement came as two of the victims were buried at the village of Weliweriya Wednesday amid mounting protests from opposition political parties against the military attack.

The first victim, a 17-year-old student, was buried on Sunday.

The main opposition United National Party (UNP) has criticized the army’s plans for an internal military probe into the deaths of three civilians and demanded an independent international investigation.

Protest against contaminated water

The military opened fire Thursday on thousands of unarmed residents who were protesting against the contamination of their ground water supply, allegedly by chemical waste from a rubber glove factory.

Rights group have said Sri Lanka’s army should not be allowed to investigate itself over the attack.

Hundreds of opposition activists took to the streets in Colombo on Monday to denounce the military assault against civilians.

The army has said it was forced to respond after coming under attack with petrol bombs.

Two people were still being treated at the main hospital in Colombo while several others were in other hospitals, according to medical officials.

The shootings came ahead of a visit to the island by United Nations rights chief Navi Pillay later this month.

Pillay is due in Colombo on Aug. 25 on a five-day visit in connection with allegations that Sri Lankan troops killed up to 40,000 civilians in the final stages of an ethnic war against Tamil rebels in 2009.

Sri Lanka has denied that its troops were responsible for killing civilians or committing any war crimes.—Amal Jayasinghe