COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lankan rights activists, lawmakers and relatives of slain and disappeared journalists held a vigil over their abductions, killings and disappearances. They demanded the government expedite investigations.

Freddie Gamage, an organizer of the vigil, said despite being in power for four years, the current government "has miserably failed to fulfil its promise to punish those responsible for attacks on journalists.

President Maithripala Sirisena and his government came into power in 2015, promising to end a culture of impunity and ensure justice to the slain journalists.

During president Mahinda Rajapaksa's tenure, dozens of journalists were killed, abducted and tortured. Some fled the country.

In some cases, military officers were arrested and later released on bail.