Sri Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena on Friday justified his decision to hang drug offense convicts, terming it necessary to "protect the country and future generations", despite domestic and international pressure to withdraw the decision.
In a recent briefing with local media heads and foreign media representatives, President Sirisena announced that he had signed papers clearing the execution of four persons convicted for drug offenses. His decision, which reverses Sri Lanka's 43-year-old moratorium on capital punishment, sparked widespread concern, including from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Addressing a ceremony in his home district Polonnaruwa on Friday, Mr. Sirisena said that he had apprised the UN Secretary-General of the reasons behind his decision, in a telephonic conversation on Thursday evening.
"I signed the document to execute the drug offenders not with hatred and cruelty towards anyone, but to save the nation and the future generation from the drug menace, which is our worst social catastrophe," he told the gathering.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner General of Prisons told an appeal court in Colombo on Friday that the execution will not be carried out in the coming week.
'Maintain moratorium':
Many Sri Lankans have voiced concern about the resumption of the death penalty after four decades. Following Mr. Sirisena's announcement, the U.K., the EU, and Canada issued strong statements, urging Sri Lanka to maintain the moratorium on capital punishment.
Expressing "deep concern", the U.K. said it opposed the use of the death penalty "in all circumstances" as a matter of principle. "Implementation of the death penalty will inevitably make it more difficult for the U.K. to cooperate on law enforcement issues, including on counterterrorism, and will require us to review our technical assistance programs on relevant policing, defense and other security issues," the British Foreign Office said.
The High Commission of Canada said in a statement that capital punishment was "incompatible" with human dignity and could lead to "irreversible miscarriages of justice. No justice system is immune from error." Further, the resumption of executions would do little to rebuild Sri Lanka's image as a peaceful and welcoming destination for travelers and investment, Canada said.
The EU pointed out that President Sirisena's move would directly contradict Sri Lanka's commitment taken at the 73rd UN General Assembly in December 2018 to maintain the moratorium. The EU will continue to monitor Sri Lanka's effective implementation of the 27 international conventions relating to the Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) commitment, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's United National Party has also opposed President Sirisena's move, observing that capital punishment was not a sign of a "civilized country".
