UN Resident Coordinator to Sri Lanka Hanaa Singer-Hamdy has expressed grave concerns over the attack on protesters by armed forces in Colombo today.
In a Twitter message, Singer-Hamdy said, the UN was “gravely concerned by the use of force to disperse protestors”.
She further said that journalists and human rights defenders have a right to monitor demonstrations and their functions should not be impeded.
“Actions that stifle protests and the right to peaceful assembly can worsen economic and political instability in Sri Lanka,” Hanaa Singer-Hamdy warned.
The UN Resident Coordinator to Sri Lanka further said peaceful solutions in accordance with broad public consultations is the only way forward.