By: LekshmiSajeev
A post-modernist novelist has been arrested and charged with violating international human rights law in Sri Lanka for authoring a story about homosexuality and child abuse at a Buddhist temple.
Shakthika Sathkumara, 33, was arrested on Monday (1) after a group of monks complained to the police when he posted the short story called Ardha on his Facebook page and in local Sinhalese language publications.
Homosexuality is outlawed in the island nation, where about 70 per cent of the population of 21 million identify as Theravada Buddhists and monks swear vows of celibacy.
The writer and poet was detained by Polgahawela police until Tuesday (9) after the monks refused to settle out of court.
He was charged by a local magistrate with inciting religious hatred and breaching the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), a multilateral treaty adopted by the UN General Assembly.
The ICCPR prohibits advocacy of racial, national, religious hatred that helps incitement discrimination, hostility or violence.
The story makes only indirect references to homosexual behaviour among Buddhist clergy, but this was enough to inflame local religious sensibilities.
The Free Media Movement (FMM), a rights watchdog, expressed its dissatisfaction over the incident and said police should not have such extensive powers to control or censor works of art.
It pointed to numerous occasions where the government, in deciding on works of art and literature by independent thinkers, has violated people’s freedom of expression.
“When Sri Lanka signed the ICCPR, the promise given to the people of the country and the international community was that freedom of expression would be further strengthened and protected by the charter,” C Dodawatta, convener of the FMM, said on Wednesday (3).
“But it is clear this particular charter challenges freedom of expression. When there is an issue with the content of a piece of art, it cannot be judged by a single point of view.”
Sathkumara was named the best Sinhala short story writer in Sri Lanka’s National Youth Literary Festivals of 2010 and 2014.
The FMM said the decision to immediately prosecute him shows how little respect Colombo has for basic human rights.”Once again, the FMM appeals to all state officials not to proceed with this kind of arbitrary action,” Dodawatta said.
In an opinion piece published in the Colombo Telegraph on Wednesday, Sarath de Alwis wrote: “In medieval times creators of beauty, truth and human squalor were persecuted. In the new age of fake righteousness attempted by statute and proclamations, we seem to be returning to our tribal roots.”
