Foreigners worried about killings in Sri Lanka, towns under curfew

Police kept up a curfew in downtown Sri Lanka on Wednesday, a day after the killing of an anti-government demonstrator in increasing riots throughout the island. It prompted international outrage.

The administration pledged investigations into charges that police used excessive force to remove protesters protesting high fuel prices and seeking President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s resignation over the increasing economic crisis.

Sri Lanka is amid its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948, with regular blackouts, chronic shortages of petrol and other supplies and record prices inflicting widespread misery.

“I have already begun an inquiry into the behaviour of police officers at Rambukkana,” police commissioner Chandana Wickramaratne said in a statement as he declared an indefinite curfew in the region.

The throng was going to set alight a diesel tanker when authorities opened fire to disperse in Rambukkana, 95 kilometres (60 miles) east of the capital, police said in an earlier statement.

In the first deadly conflict since anti-government protests broke out this month, at least 29 people including 11 police officers were wounded, authorities said.

Top Colombo-based envoys, including those from the US, Britain and Canada, voiced alarm over the police shooting and appealed for moderation from all sides as Sri Lanka resumes bailout discussions with the International Monetary Fund in Washington.

“A comprehensive, honest inquiry is vital and the people’s right to peaceful protest must be upheld,” US ambassador Julie Chung said.

The British High Commissioner Sarah Hulton added: “I condemn violence in all forms and appeal for restraint.”

And her Canadian colleague David McKinnon stressed that “those encouraging violence must be accountable”.

Within hours, police shot tear gas to break up another demonstration in the island’s south, although there were no early reports of fatalities, officials and people said.

Police removed those seizing a vital route and holding up traffic in Matara, 160 kilometres (100 miles) south of Colombo, locals claimed.

Across the country, there were protests against Tuesday’s dramatic hike in gasoline prices and the lack of diesel and petrol as the government seeks three to four billion dollars from the IMF to solve its balance-of-payments problem and restore depleted reserves.

Trade unions have planned a countrywide strike on Wednesday to protest rising living costs.

Public transport costs are due to climb by 35 percent on Wednesday after diesel was boosted by roughly 65 percent the day before. Bread has gone up about 30 percent.

Rajapaksa recognised public discontent over the governing family’s mismanagement on Monday, after selecting a new government to attempt to alleviate wrath over the issue.

Sri Lanka’s economic crisis happened after the coronavirus outbreak undermined key earnings from tourism and remittances and the government last week announced a default on large foreign debt.