The Committee for Protecting Rights of Prisoners (CPRP) announced it plans to file a legal challenge of the Gotabaya Rajapaksa's presidential pardon of Sunil Ratnayake, at Sri Lanka's Supreme Court.

Ratnayake, a soldier who was convicted for the massacre of eight Tamil civilians in 2000 and sentenced to death in 2015, was pardoned by the Sri Lankan president this week.

As reported by FT.lk, CPRP Chairman Attorney-at-Law Senaka Perera said:

A wide cross-section of civil society in Sri Lanka and the North-East has called for the reduction of numbers of prisoners through releases and called on the authorities to implement better hygiene standards in prisons on the island in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A letter from civil society organisations published on March 26 was addressed to Sri Lanka's President, Minister of Justice, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Commissioner General of Prisons, President of the Bar Association and copied to among others, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka. The letter followed an earlier appeal by the Committee for Protecting Rights of Prisoners issued on March 16.

Human Rights Watch has released a statement condemning the presidential pardon of former Sgt. Sunil Ratnayake, who was convicted for massacring 8 Tamil civilians including children.

(Photo Credit: World Bank)

Following Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's call for debt relief, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have called on bilateral creditors to suspend debts from International Development Association (IDA) countries, which may benefit Sri Lanka.

The pardoning of a Sri Lankan soldier found guilty of massacring Tamil civilians has proven the necessity for an international justice mechanism, said PEARL, the US-based advocacy group.

The soldier, Sunil Rathnayake’s guilt “is undisputed”, the organisation said in a statement on Friday. “Several other credible suspects were not even charged, in one of many examples of the domestic justice system’s failure to effectively investigate and prosecute crimes against Tamils.”

The families of disappeared expressed their deep concern at the “lack of justice in Sri Lanka as it fails to imprison murderers,” following the news that Sunil Rathnayake was released.

The former Staff Sergeant of the Sri Lankan Army, was given a presidential pardon yesterday and released from Welikada prison, despite being convicted after a 13 year trial for the murder of eight Tamil civilians in Mirusuvil in April 2001.

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) condemned the Presidential pardon granted to Sunil Ratnayake, Former Staff Sergeant of the Sri Lankan Army, for the murder of eight Tamil civilians in Mirusuvil in April 2001. 

"The full pardon and extinguishment of serious punishment constitutes a blow to the victims of these violations," the ICJ said in a press release. 

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has said the pardon of a Sri Lankan soldier after he was found guilty for massacring Tamils, is an “affront to victims” and “further undermines the limited progress the country has made towards ending impunity for mass human rights abuse,” in a statement released this morning.

Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian M A Sumanthiran said that Sri Lanka’s presidential pardon for a soldier who had been convicted of massacring Tamils confirmed that the state state “will never” exercise accountability atrocities committed during the armed conflict.

Reacting to the move, which saw Staff Sergeant Sunil Rathnayake walk free yesterday, Sumanthiran told The Hindu that “all the institutions of the state will eventually conspire together and let the offenders go free”.

<p>4,018 people have been arrested across Sri Lanka for allegedly violating curfew restrictions which were imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.</p> <p>1,033 vehicles which were in use during the curfew, have also been seized by the police, the police media spokesperson announced. The President's Media Division reported that the police and tri-forces have been instructed to strictly enforce the curfew regulations.&nbsp;</p> <p>An island-wide curfew was imposed on March 20 following the coronavirus outbreak. A total of 104 patients in Sri Lanka have been tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus.&nbsp;</p>