A section of Buddhist leaders of Sri Lanka urge the government to give permission to bury COVID-19 dead bodies

Inter-Religion Relations Subcommittee of Sri Lanka Amarapura and Ramanna Buddhist Sangha sects wrote to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa urging to take an immediate decision regarding the issue of burying the COVID-19 dead bodies.

The Buddhist clergy urged the government to consult a committee comprised of experts including epidemiologists and religious leaders and take an urgent decision. 

Further, the Inter-Religion Relations Subcommittee requested to give permission to bury the dead bodies under a concrete layer or any other suitable manner so that the virus is not leaked into the groundwater. 

The letter mentioned that the issue would create unrest among Muslims of the country and the government would be embarassed.

 

Some of the murdered COVID-19 positive prisoners were ones released by court

A woman lamented before Wattala Magistrate Court of Sri Lanka yesterday saying the prison authorities of Mahara prison had killed her husband who had been bailed out by the court. She told that she had deposited the bail for the man to get him released by the time he was shot dead. 

The postmortem reports of this particular man and three others were submitted to Wattala magistrate court yesterday. Ther four of them were COVID-19 positive persons. Prison authorities shot them dead in an incident they claim a prison riot. The prisoners staged a protest before that demanding PCR tests conducted and patients separated from others. 

Eleven prisoners were killed in the incident and Minister of Prisons Lohan Ratwatta earlier told that the cause of the deaths was not shooting. However, the postmortem revealed that the prisoners had died due to gunshot injuries. 

Eight of the killed prisoners are COVID-19 positive. Their postmortems have now been conducted and the postmortems of the three other prisoners are to be conducted. 

Dead bodies of four of the COVID-19 positive prisoners were previously cremated. The Attorney General's Department wanted the bodies of the other four prisoners also cremated with immediate effect but the Committee to Protect the Rights of the Prisoners protested destroying the evidence of a crime. 

The decision regarding the dead bodies was postponed until December 30. 

The slain prisoners are not convicted and they are only suspects. The authorities and the media loyal to them claim that they are drug offenders. Although the authorities try to justify the killing of prisoners, section 13 (4) of the constitution of Sri Lanka highlights “No person shall be punished with death or imprisonment except by order of a competent court, made in accordance with the procedure established by law.”

Amnesty International said issuing a statement on killing of prisoners in Sri Lanka that prison authorities should ensure an end to the use of unlawful and excessive force against prisoners agitating against their detention conditions during the outbreak of COVID-19 within prisons. "Ensure that force is only ever used against prisoners where it is strictly necessary and proportionate to a legitimate objective," the statement said. 

"The incident at Mahara Prison Complex is the third time this year that lethal force has been used against prison inmates in Sri Lanka since the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country. In March, two prisoners were killed and several others injured in Anuradhapura prison in North Central Province, following a protest related to COVID-19. On 18 November, a prisoner was shot dead while trying to escape from Bogambara Prison in Central Province, where more than 100 inmates had tested positive for COVID-19," the statement further said.

Baby farm owner arrested in Sri Lanka

A Sri Lankan man who engaged in trafficking of babies was arrested at Matale on December 21, police media spokesman Deputy Inspector General Ajith Rohana said. The man was released on bail today by the magistrate court.

The suspect known as Manjula Ukwatta was banned recruiting more pregnant women to his baby farms.  

The arrest was made following a comprehensive investigation by the Police Children's and Women's Bureau. Twelve pregnant women were also found from the custody of this person. 

The man is accused of running the baby farm giving wide publicity online using social media. He appears to have close links with media and religion also. 

The women who had unwanted pregnancies were given shelter in this man's centre and their children were sold to wealthy people after the childbirth, police said. Police further said that the man had not followed the laws of Sri Lanka in terms of child adoption. 

A few Sri Lankan social media influencers exposed this racket and the owner of the suspected baby farm counter-argued that he was providing a service. 

The suspected trafficker ran an organization called CSCN - Center For Social Change Nation Lanka

White handkerchief marks protest against forcible cremation by the government of Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan civil society is silently but strongly marking their protest against the government's inhuman forcible cremation of a 20-day old baby against the wishes of the parents. 

For about two weeks, small groups of civil society activists wearing masks and keeping social distances silently tie white handkerchiefs on the iron wall of the general cemetery of Colombo 08 where the babies body was forcibly cremated.

This activism has become a protest against the government's adamant rejection of WHO directions on the disposal of dead bodies of the COVID-19 patients and the disrespect to the people's right for a respectable funeral. Sri Lanka government cremates all COVID-19 dead bodies as a policy. Although the majority Sinhala community cremates their dead bodies, Muslims and some groups in all ethnic communities including some Sinhalese bury the dead bodies as a tradition. A large number of deaths due to COVID-19 in Sri Lanka are of the Muslims.

Baby Shaykh of Colombo 15 was admitted to Lady Ridgway Hospital on the night of December 7. Dr. G. Wijesuriya, the Director at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital said that at the time of admission the infant had been in critical condition with severe pneumonia. The baby was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit and connected to a ventilator. The hospital authorities say they had done their level best to save the life of the baby. 

His antigen test was reported positive by the afternoon the next day but the antigen tests of his parents were negative. After that, they were sent to home quarantine. The lactating mother was also separated from the baby. Baby's father Fahim demanded a PCR conducted for the child but they had been asked to do it privately. Fahim, a three-wheeler taxi driver from an isolated area in Colombo city had no money for the test.  

The baby died in the evening of December 8 and the father said that the hospital had given the news to media even before informing him. 

Fahim was called to the hospital and asked to sign some documents. The distraught man said he would sign only if the body was given for burial. The hospital authorities rejected his appeal and took fast actions to cremate the body of the baby under quarantine regulations. 

The health officials could keep the body in the mortuary until the matter was explained to the bereaved parents. But the authorities did not bother and proceeded without caring the parents would come or not to the crematorium. 

- Ajith Perakum Jayasinghe

(Photo: former Minister of Foreign Affairs participates in the protest)

Postmortems of nine COVID-19 infected prisoners and two others killed in Sri Lanka being conducted

Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Sri Lanka reported to Wattala Magistrate Court on December 18, 2020, that the postmortem reports of seven remand prisoners killed in Mahara prison would be submitted to the court on December 23. Five of these killed seven prisoners are COVID-19 patients. 

CID cited that the postmortem had been delayed because of the cremation of four other prisoners was delayed. The postmortem of these four remand prisoners was conducted earlier and the cause of death was cited as gunshot injuries. 

The prison officials shot at the prisoners but the Prisons Minister Lohan Ratwatta lied to media that no prisoner had died due to gunfire. 

The lawyers appearing for the rights of the prisoners appealed to the court that the dead bodies of the slain prisoners buried but the CID objected it. The dead bodies were cremated later.

Chaos occurred in the congested Mahara prison in Gampaha district due to the fear of COVID-19. The prisoners demanded PCR conducted among them and the infected persons separated. Eleven prisoners were killed and over 100 were injured as a result of firing by the prison officers. PCR conducted later proved that nine of the 11 killed prisoners had been contracted COVID-19. 

(Photo: A man suspected to be another prisoner deployed without personal protective equipment to attend to the dead bodies while the officials keep a safe distance)    

Sri Lankan authorities remain insensitive about the funeral rights of even the youngest COVID-19 victim

"What was the sin committed by this innocent 20-day-old newborn baby for his body to be forcibly cremated?" former State Minister and former MP for Batticaloa District Ali Zahir Moulana tweeted with a photo of a 20-day old baby whose body was cremated by the authorities without the permission of the parents. 

Baby Shaykh of Colombo 15 was admitted to Lady Ridgway Hospital in the night of December 7. Dr. G. Wijesuriya, the Director at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital said that at the time of admission the infant had been in critical condition with severe pneumonia. The baby was transferred to Intensive Care Unit and connected to a ventilator. The hospital authorities say they had done their level best to save the life of the baby.  

His antigen test was reported positive by the afternoon but the antigen tests of his parents was negative. After that, they were sent to home quarantine. Baby's father Fahim demanded a PCR conducted for the child but they had been asked to do it privately. Fahim, a three wheeler taxi driver from a isolated area in Colombo city had no money for the test.  

The baby died in the evening and the father said that the hospital had given the news to media even before informing him. 

Fahim was called to the hospital and asked to sign some documents. The distraught man said he would sign only if the body was given for burial. The hospital authorities rejected his appeal and took fast actions to cremate the body of the baby under quarantine regulations. 

The health officials could keep the body in the mortury until the matter was explained to the bereaved parents. But the authorities did not bother and proceeded without caring the parents would come or not to the crematorium. 

The authorities of Sri Lanka's national children's hospital are criticized for being insensitive to the grief of the parents of the country's youngest person who died of COVID-19. The family has another daughter who is six years older than the dead brother.

Sri Lanka government continue their unconcern about the human rights of the COVID-19 patients and especially about the funeral rights of the dead persons. Muslims have raised their issue and some reject to accept the bodies of the dead relatives in protest of the government policy. They do not pay for the cremation which is ultimately conducted at the expense of the government. 

Christians, some of the Hindus and some of the Buddhists also do not creamate the dead bodies. However, the majority Sinhala Buddhist community has no cultural issue against cremation of dead bodies. Sri Lanka government does not follow the guidelines of the WHO in terms of the dead bodies of the COVID-19 infected persons and continue to cremate them forcibly if the families protest. 

Sri Lanka government issued a gazette notification on April 11 making cremations mandatory for COVID-related deaths. Twelve Muslim petitioners challenged the regulation in the Supreme Court, claiming it impinged on the fundamental rights of theMuslim minority. However, the petition was rejected. 

(Photo: Baby Shaykh)

Sri Lanka records the highest number of elephant deaths in 2019

It was revealed at Sri Lanka parliament's Committee of Public Accounts (COPA) meeting held last week that the country recorded the highest number of elephant deaths in the recent history in 2019. Accordingly, 407 elephants died in 2019 far ahead of the annual average before that which was little above 200. The vast majority of the elephant deaths are killings. 

Meanwhile, 122 humans also were killed in human-elephant conflict.

It was mentioned at the COPA that Sri Lanka had become the country that recorded the highest number of elephant deaths in the world. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka also became the country that recorded the second-highest number of human deaths by human-elephant conflicts in the world. India is the first.   

Sri Lanka has around 4,200 kilometres of fences that block the elephants roaming into human settlements. However, residents in relevant areas say they are not properly maintained. Also, the traditional forest land is encroached by farmers and politically-backed unscrupulous racketeers causing the elephants to lose their habitat. They invade the cultivations by farmers who use firearms and explosive material to chase them away. Most of the deaths of elephants occur due to gunshot injuries.