Move to Enact Laws Restricting Religious Freedom in Sri Lanka

National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL)


12th January 2009


Dear friends,


Move to enact Laws restricting religious Freedom in Sri Lanka

    We write to apprise you of the deteriorating situation of religious freedom in Sri Lanka and to ask for your support in ensuring the rights of all religious groups. A bill titled ‘Prohibition of forcible conversion of religion’ is to be taken up for debate and voting in the Sri Lankan Parliament within the next month. 

It was first tabled in Parliament in 2004, as a Private Member’s bill, proposed by a Ven. Omalpe Sobitha Thero M.P. of the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) party. It was challenged before the Supreme Court by the NCESAL and other Christian and civil rights organizations. The bill was held to be valid, except for 2 clauses which were deemed un-Constitutional.

After the 2nd Reading in 2005, the bill was referred to a Standing Committee of Parliament. The NCEASL and others made representations to the Committee objecting to the said bill.

The original draft bill has now been amended in keeping with the recommendations of the Supreme Court. However, it still remains a threat to religious freedom and is now being presented to Parliament, where it can be passed by a simple majority vote.

In order to bolster the argument for this repressive legislation and validate the accusations of unethical conversions by Christians, the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress launched a Commission on Unethical Conversion of Buddhists to other religions. Their report – a voluminous document, containing highly inflammatory material and allegations against the Christian community was launched at a public ceremony on the 6th of January 2009. 

The Protestant Christian community in Sri Lanka number less than 1% of our population. Yet, they have been subjected to unbridled violence, murder of clergymen, harassment and intimidation during the past years.

If enacted, this legislation will diminish the guarantees and freedoms enshrined in Article 10 and 14(1) (e) of our Constitution and Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the ICCPR  with regards to rights of citizens to worship and practice their faith by regulating and attaching penal consequences to matters of spiritual belief and personal faith.


The wide definitions contained in the bill are open to subjective interpretation and has the potential to be abused or misused to harass individuals and religious communities through false complaints of forcibly ‘converting’ or ‘attempting to convert’ or ‘aiding and abetting’ such acts.
The present reality is that even without such a law being in place, there are regular incidents of false complaints and harassment of minority Christian communities, preventing participation or conduct of religious worship. 


Therefore it is our gravest concern that the said Bill will serve to grant legal sanction for harassment of religious communities or individuals and offer convenient tools of harassment for settling personal disputes and grudges, totally unrelated to acts of ‘forced’ conversion.


In as much as the stated objective of the said Bill is to prevent ‘forcible conversions’, it is our contention that in reality this Bill will not be effective in addressing this issue but instead, create a new set of social problems through misapplication and abuse.


We urge you to raise this concern with the government and would appreciate your efforts to oppose this law. 


Please contact us, should you need any further information or clarifications. We will be happy to assist you.


Thank you,


Yours sincerely,


Roshini Wickremesinhe
Director Advocacy and Legal - NCEASL


Godfrey Yogarajah
General Secretary – NCEASL
Executive Director – World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission