Sri Lankan security forces have moved to stifle all dissent during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), detaining protesters, restricting journalists from travelling outside Colombo, and shutting down huge swathes of the capital city.
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On Wednesday, buses carrying the members of the organisation Families of the Disappeared, mainly mothers of men who vanished during the war or who have been abducted by security forces since, were stopped by a police roadblock as they tried to travel to Colombo to hold a demonstration.
There are more than 5000 outstanding cases of enforced disappearances in the Sri Lanka, according to the UN.
Two buses, travelling from the former war zone towns Kilinochchi and Mullaithivu, were stopped at Madawachchy, while another, travelling from Mannar, was stopped at Thammanaikkulam.
And pro-government protesters who lay down on the tracks in front of a northbound train succeeded in stopping journalists from Britain’s Channel 4 heading to the north of the country.
The network has broadcast a series of documentaries examining allegations of war crimes at the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war in 2009.
When the train stopped for protesters, the Channel Four team were put into government vehicles and driven back to Colombo, “for security reasons” according to a government spokesman.
Police have also launched an investigation into a so-called "security breach" which saw the Channel Four team ask questions of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse as he left a pre-CHOGM forum.
Mass media minister Keheliya Rambukwella said the journalists broke protocol by being close to the President and asking questions, describing the incident as “a matter of security”.
The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, engineered to be a celebration of Sri Lanka’s progress since the end of a 30-year civil war, is rapidly slipping from the grip of the government, as international attention, and pressure, continues to mount on the regime over its human rights record and continuing abuses.
While anti-government protests were shut down by security forces yesterday, those in support of the government, including in Colombo city and at the airport, were allowed to continue.
The leader of the opposition in Sri Lanka’s parliament Ranil Wickramesinghe had his car attacked at a human rights gathering in suburban Colombo.
“The crowd of protesters began to bang on the car, and on the glass of the windows, they very nearly broke into the car to reach me,” he told Fairfax.
“I am flabbergasted that we are being targeted, simply for defending the human rights of Sri Lankans.”
CHOGM proper begins on Friday, but at the precursory CHOGM business forum Wednesday James Packer defended his controversial Sri Lankan casino project, saying a luxury casino was necessary “if Sri Lanka is to achieve its potential to be a leading tourist mecca for the rising middle class of India, China, and the rest of Asia”.
In July, Fairfax revealed the extraordinary sweetheart deal Packer’s Crown had been offered to build a casino in Colombo.
The Sri Lankan government rushed through parliament legal amendments to give Mr Packer’s project a decades-long tax holiday, exempting it from at least 10 taxes and levies, potentially worth up to $1 billion in foregone revenue from the Sri Lankan budget over 10 years.
Opposition to the project has seen the government modify some of the tax breaks since.
@SouthAsiaCorro
