Act with care and understanding and exercise utmost restraint

An appeal to armed forces:

We write to you at a time our Nation is facing a watershed moment in its history. There are widespread protests throughout our country which have arisen spontaneously due to the extreme hardships faced by its people. We, as citizens of this country, are also facing these hardships, and without doubt you and your families face the same hardships. These protests are principally being carried out by the youth of our country, with the senior members supporting them without hesitation. The distinctive feature of these protests is the very disciplined and law-abiding manner in which they are carried out. Their core objective and struggle, is to create a better country and system for all of us. The Freedom of Expression (of which the right to protest is an integral part), the Freedom of Association and the Freedom of Peaceful Assembly are Fundamental Rights guaranteed to them under our Constitution, which all of us as citizens, are bound to uphold and protect.

In this context, except for the very serious incidents we saw at Mirihana, the Police and the armed forces have so far interacted cordially with the protestors, for which we record our appreciation.

However, the day before yesterday, we were shocked to observe the use of lethal force on protestors who were reportedly unarmed, resulting in the death of a person and injuring many others. Although we do appreciate that the Police and the Armed Forces are duty bound to protect and maintain law and order, we cannot condone such actions and consider the use of lethal force on unarmed citizens as unwarranted and inexcusable. In our view, the use of lethal force on another person would only be justified in extreme instances where other persons or property are seriously endangered by the acts of such person.

Therefore, as citizens and fellow professionals we earnestly request each of you to act with care and understanding and exercise utmost restraint when dealing with protestors. We request you to impress this position on each and every person under your command.

Further, we wish to bring to your attention that carrying out any unlawful command of a superior officer shall not be a ground of defense under the law.

On behalf of the People of Sri Lanka;

Mr. Ramzara Abdeen, AAL

Mr. Neville Abeyratne, PC

Mr. Geoffrey Alagaratnam, PC

Mr. Mohamed Adamaly, AAL

Dr. Ajith Amarasingha

Mr. Lalindra Abeysekara, AAL

Dr. Naomali Amarasena

Mr. Rajeev Amarasuriya, AAL

Mr. Naceen Anthonypillai

Mr. Rienzie Arasakularatne, PC

Mr G.G. Arulpragasam, AAL

Dr. Sunil Cooray, AAL

Mr. Prasantha Lal De Alwis, PC

Mr. Chanaka De Silva, PC

Dr. Sarath De Silva

Prof. Harendra De Silva

Dr. Sarath Gamini De Silva

Father Noel Dias, AAL

Mr. Dulitha Fernando

Prof. Ranvindra Fernando

Dr. Amitha Fernando

Mr. Nipuna Ganegoda

Dr. Upul Gunasekera

Mrs. Shiranthi Gunawardena, AAL

Dr. Rohan Gunawardene

Dr. Ruvaiz Haniffa

Prof. Siri Hettige

Mr. Gazzali Hussain, AAL

Mr. Kalinga Indatissa, PC

Mr. Nalinda Indatissa, PC

Mr. S.T. Jayanaga, PC

Mr. Janek Jayasekara

Mr. Shantha Jayawardena, AAL

Mr. Sanjeewa Kaluarachchi, AAL

Mr. Namal Karunaratne, AAL

Prof. Indika Karunathilleke

Prof. Prasad Katulanda

Mr. Thejitha Koralage, AAL

Dr. A. L. M. Nazar

Dr S. Marasinghe

Mr Ikram Mohamed, PC

Mr Udara Muhandiramge, AAL

Mr Faisz Musthapha, PC

Mr Dinuka Perera

Dr Nilupul Perera

Mr. Srinath Perera, PC

Mr. Dinal Philips, PC

Mr. Anushka Polonowita

Mr. Anuja Premaratne, PC

Mr. V. Puvitharan, PC

Dr. M. K. Ragunathan

Dr. Lalantha Ranasinghe

Mr. Asela Serasinghe, AAL

Mr. Pasindu Silva, AAL

Dr. Manilka Sumanathileke

Mr. Chavinka Sumanthilleke

Mr. Chrishmal Warnasuriya, AAL

Dr. Sunil Wijesinghe

Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama

Prof. Chandrika Wijeyaratne