HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION OF SRI LANKA, Annual Report 2019 provide for special allowances to guarantee the right to vote of persons with disabilities or with special needs, persons who are geographically isolated, migrant workers, Sri Lankan refugees in other countries, and prisoners. The Commission also advocated the Elections Commission to take necessary steps to avoid undue influence of voters at polling stations and to investigate into reports of the non-inclusion of names of duly registered voters in the voter registry. Turning the tide in relation to received complaints, the year saw the overall number of complaints received by the Commission increase from 6641 in 2018 to 8983 in 2019 (a 35% increase). In contrast, from 20152018, the Commission had witnessed a steadily decreasing trend in the overall number of complaints received annually. Out of the complaints received, the majority were received by the Regional Offices, which may be due to the extensive outreach activities conducted by the Commission resulting in the increased visibility of the regional offices. This rise in the number of complaints could be attributed to the aftermath of the 21 April terror attacks. Complaints relating to arbitrary arrest and detention, discriminatory practices mainly against Muslim women, freedom of expression, association and religion rose sharply due to those events. This turn of events, as in the context of the Digana riots targeting a minority community in 2018, points to the fragility of ethnic and religious coexistence in the country. This is particularly problematic and unfortunate given the general improvement in the human rights situation in Sri Lanka and calls for urgent action by the authorities and community leaders. Of the complaints received during the year, those relating to the infringement of personal liberty were the highest (at 1629). The second highest number of complaints (at 1240) related to the violation of other civil and political rights, such as freedom of expression, association, religion, and assembly, 1006 of which were received in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday terror attacks in April 2019. Even though complaints relating to the inaction of government authorities and employment related complaints both saw a significant decrease in the previous reporting year, 2019 witnessed a dramatic surge in both those categories. The former rose from 779 in 2018 to 1100 in 2019 (an increase of 41%), 14