Dear friends,
We wish to share with you the following statement from the US State Department.
Asian Human Rights Commission
Hong Kong
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A Statement from the US State Department forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission
SRI LANKA: US State Department Report
Sri Lanka is a constitutional, multiparty republic with a population estimated at 21 million. President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was reelected to a second six-year term in January, and the parliament, which was elected in April, share constitutional power. The government is dominated by the president’s family; two of the president’s brothers hold key executive branch posts as defense secretary and minister of economic development, while a third brother is the speaker of parliament. Independent observers generally characterized the presidential and parliamentary elections as problematic. Both elections were fraught with violations of the election law by all major parties and were influenced by the governing coalition’s massive use of state resources. There were instances in which elements of the security forces acted independently of civilian control.
This full report may be found as a PDF at: http://www.humanrights.asia/countries/sri-lanka/reports/gov/SL%20US%20State%20Dept%20Report.pdf
