Blinken says Sri Lanka crisis is an opportunity for change, creating democracy as NY human rights group slams military

Sri Lanka is in a moment of challenge and crisis but has an opportunity to create a more democratic and inclusive government, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday.

Blinken made the remarks in Cambodia at the start of a meeting with his Sri Lankan counterpart Ali Sabry, who said his country appreciates the US role in securing support from the International Monetary Fund. The two were meeting on the sidelines of a regional gathering in Cambodia.

The meeting came the day after an international human rights group said Sri Lanka’s government is using emergency laws to harass and arbitrarily detain protesters who are seeking political reform and accountability amid the island country’s economic crisis.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement Wednesday that Sri Lanka’s military sought to curtail protests through intimidation, surveillance, and arbitrary arrests of demonstrators, activists, lawyers and journalists since President Ranil Wickremesinghe took office last month.

Sri Lanka’s Parliament approved a state of emergency July 27. The decree gives the president the power to make regulations in the interest of public security and order.

Wickremesinghe, who had ordered arrests of protesters, has said that although the protests started peacefully, groups with political interests took over later and became violent, citing the burning of dozens of ruling party politicians’ homes in May.