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Cremation of Muslim bodies: US urges Govt. to respect religious rites
View(s):The Government has come under international pressure to change its decision to cremate bodies of Muslims who die of COVID-19.
Just days ahead of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) meeting, where the issue is expected to surface, the United States State Department tweeted: “COVID-19 has taken too many lives. We urge Sri Lanka to respect & accommodate religious faiths & cultural traditions, in accordance w/international public health guidelines, so that people can say farewell to their loved ones in ways consistent w/their beliefs.”
According to diplomatic sources in Colombo, the tweet is an indication that the US is weighing in on the resolution on Sri Lanka which the UNHRC is due to take up at its Geneva meeting in February. However, the US is not a member of the Council but the newly elected President Joe Biden has declared the US would rejoin the body.
Sanator Chris Van Hollen, a former co-chair of the Sri Lanka caucus in the Senate, has written to Ravinatha P. Ariyasinha, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador in Washington, expressing serious concerns over the mandatory cremations.
He has said, “Although the Sri Lankan health authorities say buried bodies of Covid-19 victims will contaminate the groundwater, the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines permit both burials and cremations. Specifically, the WHO has stated that there is not sufficient evidence to prove that cremation in lieu of traditional burials would prevent the spread of Covid-19. Human rights experts from the United Nations (UN) warn that the imposition of cremation as the only option for handling the bodies confirmed or suspected of Covid-19 amounts to a human rights violation. The UN is strongly urging the Government of Sri Lanka to stop the forced cremation of Covid-19 bodies.”
The issue also figured at the noon news brief at the United Nations in New York.