Sri Lanka Church condemns shooting by army

August 09, 2013 - The Catholic Church in Sri Lanka has condemned as "unacceptable and unjustifiable" the violence of Weliweriya, near the capital Colombo, where the army opened fire on unarmed youths on August 1 - killing three - chasing them even as they sought refuge in the local church. Along with hundreds of other people the young boys had been protesting against the government since the end of July over a lack of drinking water for their village and for the end to environmental pollution. Card. Malcolm Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo and President of the Bishops' Conference of the country, issued a message on behalf of Sri Lanka’s Catholic Church, categorically condemning the killing of these children and desecrating St. Anthony's Church. “It was sacrilege for anyone to enter such sacred precincts with arms in their hands and to behave in a violent manner there. Such actions cannot be accepted by anyone," the cardinal wrote. “It is always necessary that we preserve this sanctity of sacred premises of any religion and respect the people who enter such premises seeking protection,” he wrote, calling for the guilty to be punished without consideration of rank or status. Though President Mahinda Rajapaksa has announced compensation for the victims, Cardinal Ranjith said only an independent investigation, prosecution of those responsible, and "democratic behavior" by the authorities during future public protests would be an appropriate tribute to the victims. Hundreds of Catholic, Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim lay people as well as religious leaders protested peacefully on Wednesday in Colombo against the shooting. Protesters sat in silence, holding up only postcards, in accordance with the Gandhian principle of non-violence. Organized by the Christian Solidarity Movement (CSM), the rally had as theme: 'We condemn the state terrorism that brutalized and killed unarmed civilians'. (Source: AsiaNews)