Sri Lankan security forces took over the last public building still occupied by anti-government protesters in Colombo on Friday. The violent assault worries the international community.
Hundreds of Sri Lankan soldiers and police dismantled the main camp of anti-government protesters in the capital overnight from Thursday to Friday, hours following President-elect Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in.
Security forces in riot gear, armed with automatic assault rifles, dislodged protesters, dismantled barricades and surrounded the Presidential Secretariat compound. It had been partially overrun by protesters, precipitating the fall of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa nearly two weeks ago.
“Police and security forces acted to evacuate protesters who occupied the Presidential Secretariat, the main gate and the surrounding area,” police said in a statement. ‘Nine people were arrested’ of which ‘two were injured.’
Witnesses saw soldiers arresting several people and destroying the tents erected along the avenue leading to the presidential palace. Police were blocking adjacent streets to prevent new protesters from arriving.
According to testimonies, soldiers attacked individuals, including journalists, with truncheons as they advanced towards small groups of demonstrators gathered at the encampment called ‘GotaGoGama’ (‘Village Va-t-en Gota(bayan )’).
doomed operation
The American ambassador to Colombo, Julie Chung, said she was “deeply concerned” by this military operation and called on the authorities to take action. “We urge the authorities to exercise restraint and provide the injured with immediate access to medical care,” she tweeted.
Amnesty International has urged the Sri Lankan authorities to respect dissent and condemned the use of force once morest journalists, including a BBC photographer, who were covering the military operation.
The head of Sri Lanka’s influential bar association, Saliya Peiris, condemned the operation and warned that it would damage the international image of the new government. “The unnecessary use of brute force will not help this country and its international image,” he said in a brief statement.
‘Listen to us’
On Friday morning, hundreds of activists demonstrated at a dedicated site near the presidential compound to denounce the violence of the authorities, demanding the resignation of Mr. Wickremesinghe, the dissolution of Parliament and the holding of elections. “Don’t attack peaceful protesters, listen to us instead,” chanted Dimmithu, a 26-year-old student.
The activists affirmed their intention to continue the protest, following four months of demonstrations once morest the power of the Rajapaksa clan, which this week supported the election of the new president Wickremesinghe.
For Basantha Samarasinghe, a 45-year-old trade union leader and businessman, ‘the people want a change of system’ and ‘parliament should be dissolved’ because ‘it has no public mandate’. Police cordoned off the main roads leading to the area to prevent others from joining the protest.
Caution
The new president on Wednesday warned ‘troublemakers’ and promised severity if they tried to disrupt his government. “If we try to overthrow the government, occupy the president’s office and the prime minister’s office, it’s not regarding democracy, and we will deal with those with firmness,” he said.
On Monday, while still interim president, Mr Wickremesinghe declared a state of emergency, giving the armed forces and police sweeping powers to arrest suspects and detain them for a long time without charge. .
Mr. Wickremesinghe was elected president of Sri Lanka on Wednesday to replace Mr. Rajapaksa, who hastily fled his palace on July 9, which was stormed by thousands of angry demonstrators and took refuge in Singapore, from where he submitted his resignation.
He inherits a country ravaged by a catastrophic economic crisis, marked by shortages of food, electricity and fuel, and which has defaulted on its external debt of 51 billion dollars.
Childhood friend
The Head of State, elected for the remaining period of Mr. Rajapaksa’s term of office which ends in November 2024, unsurprisingly appointed Dinesh Gunawardena, his childhood friend, as Prime Minister.
The two men, who studied together, have diametrically opposed ideological positions on paper. Mr. Wickremesinghe, pro-Western, is a cantor of free trade while Mr. Gunawardena is a convinced Sinhalese nationalist who believes in socialism and state control over the economy.
The latter, former Minister of Public Service and fervent supporter of the Rajapaksa clan, was sworn in on Friday morning and will have to form a coalition government.
/ATS