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.

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)

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 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 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.

A 35 year old Tamil man, seeking asylum to avoid persecution by the Sri Lankan government for his alleged involvement with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, was granted refugee status.

The recent tribunal concluded that he faced a risk of persecution.

Global Human Rights Group, Amnesty International, expressed their concerns and disapproval over Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s decision to grant a presidential pardon and release Staff Sergeant Sunil Rathnayake, who was found guilty of the ‘Mirusuvil massacre’.

“Where accountability is so rare for serious human rights violations in Sri Lanka, the government’s arbitrary decision to release Sergeant Rathnayake sends an extremely worrying message. It means that military perpetrators of horrific crimes, even if convicted through a court of law, will be pardoned and released,” said Amnesty International’s Regional Director for South Asia, Biraj Patnaik.

The Tamil National Alliance(TNA) has denounced Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s decision to release Staff Sergeant Sunil Rathnayaka, who a Sri Lankan court found guilty of the ‘Mirusuvil massacre’.