In April, Bishop Malcolm Ranjith, Secretary of the...

In April, Bishop Malcolm Ranjith, Secretary of the influential Catholic Bishops Conference said: "We appreciate the Government's interest in restoring law and order, but we are not in favor of the death penalty." "No man has a right to take a person's life, whether he be the king or president..... Life imprisonment is good enough," said the Secretary of the All Ceylon Hindu Congress, Kandiah Neelakandan. "The main cause for the increase in violent crime is the failure of the Government to take effective action against organized crime in the country. It is no secret that some, including police and armed service personnel have links with the underworld gangs involved in serious crimes," the organization "Lawyers for Human Rights and Development" said. The Centre for the Study of Human Rights of the University of Colombo stated that Sri Lanka has ratified the Protocols of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in which Article 6(4) states that anyone sentenced to death shall have the right to seek pardon or an amnesty, or pardon or commutation of the sentence of death may be granted in all cases.