A prominent Catholic priest and human rights advocate, Rev. Fr. Sarath Iddamalgoda has condemned what he described as the “culture of killing” that has plagued Sri Lanka across successive regimes. Referring to the haunting legacies of the Batalanda torture chamber and the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, Fr. Iddamalgoda called for a national awakening to reject this deep-rooted violence and embrace a transformative vision for justice and peace.
Excerpts of the media release:
There are two critical issues that have captured the attention of society today: the Batalanda torture chamber and the Easter Sunday attacks. Both incidents highlight the same grim reality — the culture of killing that has been nurtured by successive rulers.
A culture does not arise overnight. It takes root when it is allowed to grow unchecked over time. Today, we are compelled to recognise that it was the rulers who enabled the emergence of a culture of murder, protected the perpetrators, and even provided them with facilities to operate. We, therefore, firmly reject this entire history, those responsible for it, and the system of governance that sustained it.
Reports suggest that atrocities similar to those of Batalanda and Easter Sunday are still occurring. The Welikada Police incident and the Jaffna incident are just two of the most recent examples — and there may be more that remain unreported.
The current Government must now take urgent and unprecedented steps to end this culture once and for all. While we understand that change cannot happen in six months, the responsibility squarely lies with the present leadership. Blaming past rulers is not a solution. Concrete, immediate measures must be taken to instill a new culture within the police and security forces. It must be unequivocally stated that, while the culture of killing was once the unofficial policy of the regime, it is not — and must not be — the policy of today.”
