PLANNED ATTACK USING GOVERNMENT BACKERS AGAINST THE PEACEFUL PROTESTERS.

Rajapaksa Government supporters attacked peaceful (Gota-Go-Gama & Maina-Go-Gama) anti-government protest sites in Colombo and clashes broke out island wide Sri Lanka.

Several hundred people claimed themselves as supporters of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa arrived by bus in Colombo on today (9 May). Polito News started live stream from the prime minister house (Temple Trees) Kolpitty. And faced the attack from the Rajapaksa supporters. Peaceful protesters including women and catholic priest were beaten hard. They interrupted and attack the Polito live stream to avoid witness video footage.

Then attackers advanced to the Galle Face Green, where protesters calling for the resignation of the government have been peacefully camped for several weeks. Witness accounts and video footage show government supporters attacking the protesters with clubs and other weapons and setting fire to tents. Hours later, Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned as prime minister.

The attack on peaceful protesters by Rajapaksa government supporters has sparked a dangerous escalation, increasing the risk of further deadly violence and other abuses “It is vitally important for the security forces to fully respect the right to peaceful assembly, and for those responsible for violence to be held to account.

witnessed that police forces at the scene, which included a water cannon truck, “retreated” when government supporters attacked protesters with knives and sticks. Government supporters started destroying everything,” massive damage to tents and other facilities, including temporary showers and a small library. “It seemed as if they knew what and who to look for.”

Over 150 people have been reported injured and at least nine dead in different incidents, including the attack on Galle Face Green, and the government has imposed a nationwide curfew. We condemned the Pathetic Rajapaksa attack on protesters and called for an impartial international investigation.

Clashes between government supporters and anti-government protesters, and attacks on the property of ruling party politicians. In Nittambuwa, 50 kilometers from Colombo, a government member of parliament Amarakeerthi Athukorala, opened fire on protesters blocking his car, wounding one and killing another, then fatally shot himself.

Sri Lanka has a poor record under successive administrations of investigating and prosecuting countless grave violations of human rights. During a previous government between 2005 and 2010, Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Mahinda Rajapaksa, as well as other senior figures in the current administration, were implicated in the killing and enforced disappearance of journalists and political activists, and in numerous war crimes during the civil war that ended in May 2009.