Barnabas Fund - International Headquarters River Street, Pewsey, Wilthire. Phone: +44 1672 565030 Latitude: 51 deg 23 min 18 sec N Longitude: 1 deg 45 min 48 sec W .
Home
News
Archives
Outspoken church leader in danger as Sri...

Email:

Outspoken church leader in danger as Sri Lanka regime critics “disappear”

To

Email address:
Separate multiple addresses with a comma (,). Maximum of 10

From

Your name:
Your email address:
Security test:
Please enter the numbers that appear here in the box below.
 refresh captcha
CAPTCHA Image
Security code:

Details provided here will never be used in any other context

Published: 10:00 GMT Daylight Time - Thursday 24 May 2012

Outspoken church leader in danger as Sri Lanka regime critics “disappear”

Country/Region: Sri Lanka, South and East Asia

A senior church leader in Sri Lanka is under threat for speaking out against the regime’s abuses as government critics suspiciously “disappear” and international pressure mounts.

Rayappu Joseph, Bishop of Mannar, has been a leading figure in defending the rights of the Tamil people in the north and east of the country; they suffered grave abuses during the 26-year long civil war in which the government fought the Tamil Tigers, and are now marginalised and mistreated.

Sri-Lanka_map_4X3.jpg

Anyone who sides with the beleaguered Tamil people is viewed as an enemy. More than a dozen Christian ministers have “disappeared”, suspected to have been abducted and murdered by President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s regime, which ruthlessly “silences” dissenters.

After the war ended in 2009, the government appointed the “Lessons Learnt Reconciliation Commission” (LLRC), seen as a sham by critics to prevent international intervention and thereby avoid accountability for its own war crimes.

Bishop Joseph and two of his fellow clergy made a detailed submission to the LLRC in which they highlighted the disappearance of 146,679 people, who remain unaccounted for, during the last stages of the civil war.

He was also a signatory of a letter to the US State Department and another to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that call for international intervention in Sri Lanka. The second, submitted by 31 Christian clergy on 1 March 2012, describes the deteriorating human rights situation in the country and calls for an independent international body to investigate “war time abuses as well as pre-war and post-war concerns”.

The UNHRC has responded, passing a resolution on 22 March calling on Sri Lanka to investigate alleged war crimes properly. Intensifying international pressure on President Rajapaksa’s government increases the threat to the regime’s opponents, who have bravely brought the situation to the world’s attention.

“Break the bones” threat

On 23 March, the president’s Minister of Public Relations and Public Affairs, Mervyn Silva, said that he will “break the bones” of Sri Lankans who supported the UNHRC resolution. Many regime opponents have been killed. The owner/editor of the only newspaper in Sri Lanka to be critical of the government was assassinated in broad daylight while on his way to work.  

Open threats have been made against Bishop Joseph. One came from the party of the Buddhist monks, Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), which means “National Freedom Front”, who called for his arrest and prosecution.

On 8 May, he was questioned by the Sri Lankan CID about his submission to the LLRC in what is being seen as a signal to the Bishop to give up his campaign for the Tamil cause.  

Churches in Sri Lanka are also under pressure as the government tightens its control of all sectors of society. The regime is especially suspicious of Protestant groups; it is estimated that more than 40 per cent of Protestant Christians in Sri Lanka are ethnic Tamils.

Churches have received a circular saying that all new and existing places of worship will require prior approval from the Ministry of Religious Affairs, suggesting that the mandatory registration of churches is pending. Attacks on Christians are also on the rise.  

Barnabas Fund is helping Sri Lankan Christians whose lives were devastated by the civil war; we are building houses for those who are still without permanent homes, and churches to provide places of worship for Christians who are currently meeting in tents or under trees.

For more information, visit Housing persecuted Christians.

Help us: Share this article

Email:

Outspoken church leader in danger as Sri Lanka regime critics “disappear”

To

Email address:
Separate multiple addresses with a comma (,). Maximum of 10

From

Your name:
Your email address:
Security test:
Please enter the numbers that appear here in the box below.
 refresh captcha
CAPTCHA Image
Security code:

Details provided here will never be used in any other context

christian, persecution, charity, church, persecuted, sookhdeo, Islam

Other articles

No related articles found

Latest Emergency

/_images_files/content/article_files/Eritrea/201305/Eritrean-Christian-refugee-torture-wounds-4X3.jpg

Follow Barnabas

or

receive news & appeal emails as they are published

From Twitter

From Twitter_icon
Read more...

Daily prayer

Daily prayer_icon

  • Pray for the families of Abdoulaye and Abakachi, two converts from Islam to Christianity who were shot dead by Islamists in northern Cameroon. They were travelling with two other converts around Lake Chad on 19 February when their vehicle was stopped by four armed men who were looking for Abdoulaye. He was the leader of the converts from the Kotoko people group and had last year received a threat from militant Islamist group Boko Haram. The gunmen opened fire, killing Abakachi on the spot. Abdoulaye and another man were also shot; Abdoulaye later died of his injuries. He left a wife and 13 children; Abakachi left a wife and four children. Boko Haram had previously warned all Christian converts in northern Cameroon to return to Islam or “face Allah’s wrath”. Pray that the Lord will protect these vulnerable believers. Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed 12 hours ago

  • Give thanks to the Lord for the courage and boldness of the Christians in North Korea who carry on witnessing for Christ despite the savage penalties imposed by the Communist regime. Those who share their faith or distribute Bibles risk torture and probable execution if they are caught, and their families may be dispatched to the country’s infamous labour camps to be starved or worked to death. Yet remarkably, the Church in North Korea is growing well, and some who have fled abroad and become Christians there have even gone back to share Christ with family and friends in their poverty and distress. Pray that God will keep His brave witnesses from harm and continue to add to their number (Acts 2:47). Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed Wed, May 2013 00:00

  • Mohamed Ibaouene (36), a convert from Islam to Christianity, was convicted in July 2012 of “proselytising” in Algeria. The verdict was passed in his absence and without his knowledge. He was later sentenced to a year in prison and fined 50,000 dinars (£420; US$630). Mohamed challenged the conviction, and on 13 February 2013 the appeal court rescinded the jail term but doubled his fine. A Muslim colleague had brought the accusation against Mohamed after the latter refused to renounce Christ. Pray for justice for Mohamed and that the rights of Algerians to freedom of religion will be respected both by other citizens and by the law. Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed Tue, May 2013 00:00

  • The various measures recently taken against Christian churches and institutions by the government of Sudan add up to a ruthless campaign that may be intended to eradicate Christianity from the country altogether. They were launched by a media drive against alleged “Christianisation” and have focused in particular on those involved in Christian ministry. Numerous church buildings have been demolished, and Christian literature has been seized. President al-Bashir has declared his intention of making Sudan entirely Islamic and of strengthening the place of sharia. Pray that God will frustrate the plans of the authorities and that the churches of Sudan will remain faithful in the face of intimidation. Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed Mon, May 2013 00:00

  • The Sudanese authorities have intensified their crackdown on Christian activities by targeting Christian-run schools. Two of these in the capital, Khartoum, have been ordered to close. One is a primary school that the authorities discovered was not teaching Islamic studies or separating boys and girls. The other provided English-language lessons for 500 adults; three of its staff had been arrested and interrogated over suspicions that they were evangelising Muslims. Pray that Christian work and witness in Sudan will continue despite the increasingly crippling restrictions being imposed upon them, and that the Gospel will spread there. Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed Sun, May 2013 00:00

Read more...

Quick navigation

© Barnabas Fund 1997 - 2013 All rights reserved.
Barnabas Fund & Barnabas Aid are registered trade marks