The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) is expected to release its long overdue inquiry report into the 2018 Anti-Muslim Digana riots this month, over six years since the violent events occurred.
Commissioner Dr. Gehan Gunatilleke has said that while the report has not yet been finalised it is likely to be released within the coming weeks.
In July 2024, amid heightened calls for the report’s release, the HRCSL had pledged to publish it before the end of the year.
However, the Commission failed to meet this commitment, further delaying the much-anticipated findings.
In the same month, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Mujibur Rahman called upon then-Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena to make the HRCSL’s report on the Anti-Muslim Digana riots public.
“In the last Parliament, I requested the Speaker to table it, but it was not tabled. I intend to raise the matter with the current Speaker when Parliament convenes next week,” Rahman said.
“These reports will be instrumental in bringing this crime and the defendants involved to justice,” MP Mujibur Rahman added.
He said that by submitting these reports to the courts, the Government could deliver justice to those who have been deprived of fairness under the law.
Regional journalist M.I.M. Musadique on December 30 also wrote to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) on behalf of the affected Muslim community, urging it to release its findings under the new National People’s Power (NPP) Government. Musadique criticised the HRCSL for failing to release the report despite repeated calls over the years.
“Apart from this incident being discussed in Parliament for the past six years, I humbly request the new Government, which has come to power, to release the report soon,” he said.
March 2025 will mark seven years since the violent events, highlighting the prolonged wait for accountability and justice. The incidents, which took place from March 4-7, 2018 in Digana, Kandy, targeted the Muslim community in the area, resulting in loss of life, injuries, and property damage.
