Human Rights Commission in Wickremesinghe: Stop anti-terrorism law
Presented last month, the bill intervenes on the regulations passed in 1979 against the Tamil uprising but maintains wide margins of arbitrariness that civil society fears will be used to repress all forms of protest. Card. Ranjith has harshly criticised the measure that the president would like to bring to Parliament.
Colombo (Asia News) - The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCL) has asked Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe not to bring the disputed anti-terrorism law reform to Parliament. Introduced last month, the measure would intervene on the regulations passed in 1979 against the Tamil uprising, which are still in force despite the civil war having been over for 15 years.
It was the UN that had called for action in 2021, but the reform that Wickremesinghe would like to enact maintains wide margins of arbitrariness in the hands of the police force, which Sri Lankan civil society fears could be used to repress all forms of protest.
"The bill, in its current format, should not be presented to Parliament until a national dialogue - with broad participation - is concluded and its recommendations are accompanied by a clear plan of action," the Human Rights Commission writes in a letter to the head of state.
This dialogue "will demonstrate the government's commitment to ensuring and building further peace and harmony among citizens". The Hrcsl emphasises that in order to truly address the issue of the Anti-Terrorism Bill, it is indispensable to more thoroughly assess the outcomes of the peace and reconciliation process, which concerns not only the communities in the north and east of Sri Lanka, but also those affected by the uprisings in the south in the 1970s and 1980s.
Numerous religious leaders in the country have also spoken out against the anti-terrorism bill in recent weeks, including the Archbishop of Colombo Card. Malcolm Ranjith. "The death penalty has been reduced all over the world, but the Sri Lankan government has still included it in this bill," the cardinal had said on 4 April. "If the president wants, he can ban a political party through the new law as well. The bill was introduced to control protests."
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28/11/2022 19:49
