1. Context 1.1 Economic crisis prompts island-wide civilian protests Sri Lanka is presently experiencing an unprecedented economic crisis, as a result of the economic mismanagement by successive governments and poor fiscal policies and political instability created by the Rajapakse-led regime. The lack of foreign exchange to procure fuel, medicine and food has led to severe shortages in the country, leading to long queues for the purchase of essentials.At least eight persons have reportedly died in various parts of the country as a result of waiting in line for fuel for long hours1. Daily power cuts for several hours have been implemented across the country since March 2022. Inflation and cost of living has skyrocketed in Sri Lanka to record levels, which has resulted in citizens being pushed into poverty. Sri Lankans have been engaged in continuous peaceful protests for the last few months, primarily against the impact of the present crisis, but also against poor governance, corruption and impunity and lack of accountability. The protestors demanded the resignation of the incumbent President Gotabaya Rajapakse, the Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and other members of the Rajapakse family and their associates who occupied top government positions and are accused of engaging in corruption with impunity.2 Following the resignation of all members except the President, the protests continue demanding his resignation. Despite the largely peaceful nature of the people’s protests the government has impeded the rights of citizens to peaceful assembly and free expression by taking steps that have led to the disruption of protests – including stationing security forces in the vicinity of the protests to intimidate, arbitrary arrests of protestors and reported cases of assaults of protestors and journalists, dismantling structures/signs that have been constructed by protestors, as well as attempts by government representatives to discredit the protests by claiming they are politically motivated, etc.3It is in this context,several incidents have taken place over the last three months that have led to killings, use of disproportionate force, assault in custody and inhuman, degrading treatment of protestors impacting the freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly. This report takes a close look at the violence by police officers in Rambukkana on 19 April 2022 which resulted in the killing of one person and injury to several others, to demonstrate that even in the face of a large body of publicly available material and findings revealed in court proceedings there has been no swift and effective action to secure accountability and non-recurrence. ‘Eighth Sri Lankan dies after waiting in line for fuel’ Economy Next, 29 April 2022. https://economynext.com/ eighth-sri-lankan-dies-after-waiting-in-line-for-fuel-93673/ 2 ‘How Sri Lanka spiralled into crisis and what happens next’ Al Jazeera, 11 May 2022. https://www.aljazeera.com/ news/2022/5/11/how-sri-lanka-spiralled-into-crisis-and-what-happens-next 3 ‘Inside Sri Lanka’s Unprecedented Mass Protests’ Foreign Policy, 26 April 2022. https://foreignpolicy. com/2022/04/26/sri-lanka-protests-rajapaksa-economic-crisis-colombo/ 1 3