The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) hosted a special meeting at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva last week highlighting on religious persecution in Sri Lanka. The purpose of the meeting was to focus on anti-conversion legislation that is about to be introduced in Parliament in Sri Lanka.

"Laws dealing with religious freedom are meant to protect minority religious groups, but this law is trying to protect the Buddhist majority," said Godfrey Yogarajah, Secretary General of the Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka and one of the speakers at the 5th April meeting.

In a document on international religious freedom presented to the UN Commission on Human Rights, the WEA said that the Anti-Conversion Bill – presented by the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) Party to Sri Lanka’s parliament in July 2004 – had as its stated aim, to promote Buddhism within Sri Lanka. The constitutionality of the bill was challenged last year in Sri Lanka's Supreme Court, which found two sections of the proposed legislation to be unconstitutional. If enacted, the legislation would have contradicted the freedom of religion guarantee in Article 10 of the Constitution.

According to the WEA, the JHU is currently redrafting the bill in hopes of tabling it in the near future, while simultaneously working on a constitutional amendment that would enshrine Buddhism as the state religion, once again outlawing conversions from Buddhism in Sri Lanka.

"These bills, and others like it, intend to prohibit the conversion of a person from one religion to another," the global ministry stated in its report. "They propose penalties, including fines or jail sentences, for anyone convicted of conversion or assisting in conversion."

The WEA reports that even if these proposed bills do not pass, the Minister of Buddha Sasana (Buddhist Affairs) is expected to table a Government bill, with Cabinet support, which would effectively ban all religious conversions.

According to the ministry, violence against Christians has increased dramatically in the last two years, the exact period that anti-conversion legislation was proposed in Sri Lanka.

Janet Epp Buckingham, Director of Law and Public Policy of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, said meetings such as the 5th April meeting were very important.

"They are opportunities to highlight issues that are very current," said Buckingham, who chaired the meeting. "This lets the Sri Lankan government know that the world is watching their treatment of religious minorities."

"This is a very important day for Evangelicals," commented Johan Candelin, Executive Director of the WEA Religious Liberty Commission. "It shows the importance of the World Evangelical Alliance having a permanent voice at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights."

During their time in Geneva, the WEA delegation also met with the Special Rapporteur on Religious Freedom, Asma Jahangir, who is traveling to Sri Lanka in May for a country visit.




Kenneth Chan
Christian Post