The resignation of Gotabaya Rajapaksa has received a lot of attention from the general public. But before he left, Sri Lanka’s democracy movement was severely suppressed. This report is published by Amnesty International. Here is an excerpt:

The Sri Lankan authorities have fiercely clamped down on protests and demonized protesters during a period of economic crisis and hardship in the country, Amnesty International said in a new digest released today. 

The briefing, Penalized for Protesting: Sri Lanka’s crackdown on protestors, details how the authorities have failed to protect peaceful protesters and resorted to excessive use of force, deploying the military to police protests and carrying out reprisals against protestors while also demonizing those who exercise their protest rights peacefully.

“Over the last few months, Sri Lanka has seen widespread protests over the worst economic crisis in the country’s post-independence history. People have the right to express discontent peacefully and the state has an obligation to facilitate this right but the Sri Lankan authorities have repeatedly and unrelentingly stifled the voice of the people,” said Yamini Mishra, Amnesty International’s South Asia Regional Director.

Read the full article here.