Udenrigsudvalget 2022-23 (2. samling)
URU Alm.del Bilag 125
Offentligt
2699313_0001.png
An overview of the freedom of
religion or belief in Sri Lanka
An overview of
FoRB
in Sri Lanka
RLP 2023
Kathmandu, Nepal
RLP 2023
Kathmandu, Nepal
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0002.png
Background
●
●
Sri Lanka is both religiously and ethnically diverse
Buddhists account for about 70 percent of the
population, followed by Hindus at 12.6 percent,
Muslims (mostly Sunni) at 9.7 percent, Roman
Catholics at 6.1 percent,
and Protestant Christians
at 1.3 percent.
Most Sri Lankans are Sinhalese, a majority of whom
are Buddhist
The second largest ethnic group, Sri Lankan Tamils,
are mostly Hindu with a significant Christian
minority
Muslims are recognized as a separate
ethnoreligious group
Indian Tamils and a small number of other
ethnicities round out the population
●
●
●
●
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0003.png
FoRB overview
●
Ethno-religious violence against minority faith groups, particularly the Christian community, is
both an
entrenched and chronic issue
that has persisted in Sri Lankan society irrespective of
the changes to the country’s socio-political and economic context
A significant
rise in Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism in the post-war period
leading to the
emergence of Buddhist extremist groups and the proliferation of anti-minority rhetoric
In the post-war period, around
1000 incidents of religious liberty violations against Christians
have been documented by the NCEASL.
During this period,
4 mass-scale anti-Muslim riots
and
several anti-Hindu incidents
have been
documented in war-affected areas as well
●
●
●
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0004.png
Nature of FoRB violations against minority faith communities
●
Christian community:
chronic forms of violence including attacks on members of the
clergy and places of worship, high levels of discrimination stemming from the State and
legal restrictions on churches
Muslim community:
acute, mass-scale communal violence targeting Muslim-owned
homes and businesses and hate propaganda
Hindu community:
replacement of Hindu places of worship with Buddhist shrines and
temples. Discrimination over land issues and in matters concerning contested
archaeological/sacred sites, particularly in the war-affected North and East of the country
●
●
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0005.png
Immediate context (past 24 months)
●
●
●
●
●
●
160+ incidents
of FoRB violations recorded against the Christian community since 2021
Incidents of Christian persecution was more widespread in 2022
(Incidents recorded in
17 of the 25 districts in 2022 as opposed to 12 in 2021)
The State is the main driver of FoRB violations against Christians
(over 60 percent of the
incidents since 2021)
An
increase in the intensity and frequency of Hindu extremist groups-led incidents
of
persecution against the Christian community
The main points of contention in social hostilities and state restrictions against Christians
are
propagation, conversion and registration
Negative judicial sentiment concerning FoRB in general and religious freedoms of
Christians in particular
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0006.png
Primary targets of Christian persecution (2021-2022)
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0007.png
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0008.png
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0009.png
Growing Hindu extremism and the rise of Hindu extremist outfits
Via: https://ceylontoday.lk/news/hindus-complain-against-religious-conversions
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0010.png
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0011.png
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0012.png
Easter Sunday attacks – 4 years on…
4 years on, justice still evades
victims of the Easter Sunday
attacks in 2019 that left 260
dead despite:
●
●
●
Sustained public outcry
led by the country’s
powerful Catholic church
A presidential
commission of inquiry
And prosecution of
senior government and
law enforcement officials
including the then
president of the republic
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0013.png
Legal restrictions
on FoRB
●
Mandatory registration of religious places of
worship used as a tool to discriminate against
minority places of worship (Circulars 2018 and
2022)
Broad definition of a place worship to include any
place, building or premises in which
any religious
purposes are fulfilled, religious propagation or
teaching is conducted or welfare activities are
carried out
Since 2013,
Over 100
Christian places of worship
have been forced to discontinue religious activities
or demanded to register with the State
●
●
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0014.png
Legal restrictions
on FoRB
●
●
●
Intermittent national-level discussions
on anti-conversion laws
Attempts to bring new fake news and
hate speech laws
Anti-terrorism laws used to suppress
and marginalise minority communities
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0015.png
The State as a perpetrator of FoRB violations
Trend Analysis Of Violence Against Christians in Sri Lanka (October 2020 – October 2021)
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0016.png
The culture of State surveillance of minority places of worship
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0017.png
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
FoRB trends…
●
Growth of religious extremism, especially Hindu extremist groups with the support of its
●
●
●
●
Indian counterparts
Rapprochement between Hindu and Buddhist extremist factions, particularly around calls
for anti-conversion legislation
The use of anti-terror legislation (with histories and legacies of misuse) to marginalise,
surveil and harass minority communities
Increased administrative restrictions on places of worship
Distraction strategies employed by political actors to whip up anti-minority sentiment in
the face of the country’s economic woes and resultant social unrest
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0019.png
Improving social respect
for FoRB by building
FoRB literacy
Problem?
Lack of youth literacy on FoRB and increased youth
radicalization along the lines of religion
How bad?
“…there is little understanding among the younger
generation of the religious pluralism that characterises Sri
Lanka.”
- Preliminary findings of Country Visit to Sri Lanka by the
Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, August
2019.
“…textbooks in Sri Lanka reinforce ethno-religious divides
and could potentially mobilise youth to participate in
establishing exclusive ethno-centric versions of
nationalism.”
- International Engagement in Countering Youth Radicalisation:
Sri Lanka’s Untapped Opportunities, Lakshman Kadirgamar
Institute, May 2019
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0020.png
Museum of Religious
Freedom and E-learning
on FoRB
Improving social respect for FoRB
by building FoRB literacy with a
specific focus on children and youth
Intervention:
Developing digital platforms such
as the Museum of Religious
Freedom and an e-Learning
platform to increase access to
FoRB education
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0021.png
RESEARCH AND SCRIPT
DEVELOPMENT
200 years
of History
75 +
key incidents
12
thematic clusters
Research
Consultations
Expert reviews
Expert interviews
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0022.png
Research &
Script Development
Expert feedback
Identifying
thematic clusters
Expert Reviews
Expert Interviews
Design &
Development
Expert feedback
Securing
artefacts
Field Research
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0023.png
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0024.png
Explores the beginnings of contemporary
religious identity formation in British
colonial Ceylon.
Key Events
1815 Kandyan convention
1915 riots
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0025.png
Explores the impact of the civil war on
religious freedom.
Aranthalawa massacre
Kathankudy mosque attack
Madu Church attack
Navaly church bombing
Includes artefacts and community narratives
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0026.png
Overview of the key legislation
relevant to the freedom of religious
belief in Sri Lanka.
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0027.png
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
FoRB literacy building based on the
Museum of Religious Freedom
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0029.png
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0030.png
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0031.png
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0032.png
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0033.png
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0034.png
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0035.png
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
Since June 2022, MinorMatters has conducted
9 FoRB
workshops
based on the Museum of Religious Freedom
reaching over
350 children, youth, school teachers
and public officials in the Southern, Eastern and North
Western provinces of the country. Another
1600 youth,
teachers and children
have been reached through
FoRB messaging, training and dialogues in follow up
initiatives to these workshops.
7000 persons
have
accessed the Museum of Religious Freedom.
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
FoRB literacy building via
MinorMatters e-Learning
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0038.png
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0039.png
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0040.png
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0041.png
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0042.png
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0043.png
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0044.png
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
Since 2021, MinorMatters e-Learning has developed
10
short courses
on FoRB related topics with more than
20 offerings of the courses, reaching over
600 youth,
civil society activists, and lawyers among others.
Today, the MinorMatters e-Learning system comprises
its own custom Learning Management System (LMS) and
mobile app on android and iOS.
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0046.png
Addressing deficits:
public justice and social
peace in Sri Lanka
Problem?
Violence, intimidation and
discrimination against religious
minorities, fueled by the rise of
religious nationalism.
How bad?
Over 1500 incidents of FoRB
violations against the country’s
minority faith communities since the
country’s civil war ended in 2009.
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0047.png
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
2699313_0048.png
Addressing deficits:
public justice and social
peace in Sri Lanka
Response
Setting up an early warning and early
response system to mitigate FoRB
issues in hot-spot areas for tensions
Intervention
Developing and piloting an early
warning and early response system in
two hotspot districts for FoRB
violations in Sri Lanka
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
A snapshot of the project
●
Piloting the project in two districts: (1) Batticaloa: a Hindu dominant area, where
there has been a high degree of FoRB violations recorded against Christian
communities stemming from Hindu extremist groups since 2018 and Hindu-
Muslim tensions and (2) Kegalle: a predominant Buddhist area, with a high level
of right violations targeting the Muslim community.
●
10 monitoring personnel deployed who will gather information on potential triggers
for violence
●
Response mechanism: comprising key community interlocutors who will intervene
with early responses to de-escalate tensions
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
Early detection and early response
Main sources of information
monitored by rapporteurs:
1. Victims of violence and intolerance
2. Eyewitnesses, i.e. first-hand
observers in the field;
3. Other key informants with credible
access to eyewitnesses;
4. Verified pictorial, audio and video
content;
5. Social media content; and
6. Reportage in the mainstream
media.
Assessing developments through the
lenses of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Substance of discourse
Demographic composition
History of violence
Language and reach of content
Influence of actors
Fault lines
Potential trigger event
Actual tensions
Actual violence
 URU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 125: Materiale fra møde med delegation fra Sri Lanka v/ MF Helle Bonnesen (KF) fredag den 28. april 2023
Recommendations:
1. The government should withdraw the Circular issued in October 2008 and/or April
2022 pertaining to the construction of new places of worship and abstain from
regulating places of worship.
2. The PTA should be repealed and any new counter/prevention of, terrorism laws,
should adhere to international human rights standards
3. Develop appropriate curriculum for primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of
education that promote religious harmony and tolerance.
4. Take concrete action against perpetrators of hate speech and those who incite violent
attacks against religious minorities and take steps to prevent reoccurrence.