AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Check against Delivery 26 November 2014 UN Human Rights Council Forum on Minority Issues Seventh Session 25 — 26 November 2014 Mr. Chairman, Minorities live in specific places and violence against them takes place in specific contexts. It is important that this Forum convey to the Human Rights Council and the broader United Nations the importance of preventing and addressing violence against specific minorities in the specific places where that violence is foreseeable or has already taken place. Discrimination against ethnic, linguistic and religious minorities, including members of Tamil, Muslim and Christian communities remains a serious problem in Srri Lanka. Minorities have been singled for restrictions on freedom of expression and association. Police have failed to protect minorities when they have been threatened with violence by communal forces, and have not arrested perpetrators, even when there was photographic evidence to identify them. Some political leaders from the majority Sinhalese community have exploited or manufactured religious tensions, leading to attacks and violence against religious minorities, including their places of worship and businesses, which are typically committed with impunity. Buddhist hard-line nationalist organizations, a prominent one being the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) have emerged with alleged links to high government officials and political platforms that are often closely aligned with those of the ruling party. These groups have organized protests and attacks against religious minorities and places of worship, as well as issuing threats and smear campaigns against human rights defenders and minority opposition politicians. The National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL) recorded 131 incidents of threats or attacks against Christians, including 32 acts of violence between January 2013 and June 2014. In 65 cases, the reported perpetrator was a state official — most often a police officer who failed to protect congregations under attack or advised them to stop religious activities.