Christian worship place deemed unauthorized

Voice of Heaven Church
Dummalasuriya (Kurunegala District)

8th January 2016
At approximately 9:30 a.m., 02 policemen in civilian attire arrived at the pastor’s premises and questioned him regarding the religious worship activities conducted at his premises. About an hour later, 02 uniformed policemen arrived and informed the pastor that a complaint had been filed against his church, on the basis of it being unauthorized, and asked him to be present at an inquiry the following day.

9th January 2016
02 Buddhist monks from the village temple, 5 villagers and the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) were present for the inquiry. The OIC began by stating that the pastor’s place of worship was unauthorized. The Buddhist monks stated that they would not allow the pastor to register his place of worship and demanded that he stop all religious worship activities immediately. The villagers, then, citing the 2008 Circular issued by the Ministry of Buddha Sasana and Religious Affairs, claimed that new constructions of religious places of worship must be registered with the Ministry.

The pastor, however, asserted his rights and informed the OIC that he will continue with his religious worship activities and refused to sign any document that compelled him to do otherwise. The OIC said that he would inform the Divisional Secretary of the matter and notified the pastor that he would bring a court order against the church if the pastor’s activities amounted to a breach of peace in the village.

Pastor threatened over religious worship activities

Bethel Assemblies of God Church
Serukele (Puttalam District)

17^th January 2016
The pastor received credible information that a meeting was conducted at the village temple to discuss the pastor’s religious worship activities. The pastor was also notified that those congregated had threatened to kill him and discussed plans to destroy the church.

Prior to this incident, the pastor also received credible information that some Buddhist clergy from a nearby temple had complained to the Assistant Government Agent (AGA) concerning the various programmes conducted by the church. The monks had allegedly threatened to surround the church and destroy it if the pastor did not stop these activities.

Additionally, a petition to convert the public cemetery to a Buddhist-only burial ground has been circulated among neighbouring villages, in connection with a violent incident that took place on 6^th January 2016, concerning a Christian burial at the village public cemetery.

The pastor continues to receive death threats because of his religious worship activities in the village.

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Burial rites denied; pastor harassed at Christian funeral

Peniel Prayer House
Trincomalee (Trincomalee District)

31^st January 2016
Villagers restricted a Christian burial after insisting that the burial should be carried out according to the traditions of the majority religion in the village. The villagers also harassed the family's pastor, reprimanded him in derogatory language, and demanded that he leave the funeral.

Subsequent to the objections raised by the villagers, the burial was carried out according to non-Christian rites.

Pastor forced to discontinue religious worship activities

Apostolic Church
Alawwa (Kurunegala District)

19^th January 2016
At around 4 p.m., the pastor and his lawyer arrived for an inquiry at the area police station over an incident relating to a violation of the pastor’s right to religious freedom. The OIC, 02 Buddhist monks, a group of villagers and another religious leader were also present for the hearing. During the inquiry, several false accusations were made against the pastor. The OIC then demanded the pastor to discontinue all religious worship activities and stated that a court order must be obtained in the event he wanted to continue his religious worship activities.

Due to various threats, the pastor has temporarily suspended all prayer meetings.

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