(UTV|COLOMBO) – Norway and Germany have expressed deep concern regarding the Sri Lankan President’s decision to resume executions in the country for drug offenders.
“Norway is deeply concerned that Sri Lanka intends to implement the death penalty, which would put an end to Sri Lanka’s 43-year moratorium on the use of this cruel and irreversible punishment,” the Norwegian Embassy in Colombo said.
The statement said that as recently as December 2018, Sri Lanka was one of 120 countries that voted in favour of a UN General Assembly resolution calling for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty.
“The vote was a tangible sign of the global trend to move away from the use of the death penalty.”
Norway said implementation of the death penalty would negatively affect Sri Lanka’s international reputation and its human rights record.
“Norway strongly opposes all use of the death penalty as a matter of principle. We believe that states have a duty to protect the safety, well-being and human rights of all their citizens.”
[alert color=”faebcc” icon=”fa-commenting”]Keeping up to date with breaking news while you are on the move is now simple with UTV Alerts [textmarker color=”8a6d3b”]Type REG UTV and send to 77000[/textmarker] on your Dialog, Airtel, or Hutch mobile connection[/alert]