Lawyers’ Collective urges Dissanayake to keep its promise on the anti-terrorism law
The Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), adopted as a temporary measure in 1979, is a draconian piece of legislation that is still on the books. Over the decades, it has been used by the “Government of Sri Lanka to target, and harass minorities, activists, journalists and critical voices,” Amnesty International laments. The National People's Power party had promised to repeal it but recent statements suggest an about-face.
Colombo (Asia News) – Sri Lanka's Lawyers Collective has expressed concern over recent statements indicating that the new administration installed in September could keep the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), after it announced during the election campaign that it wanted to abolish it.
According to the legal advocacy group, the law allows arbitrary detention and torture of suspects. Their concern is not new regarding a law described by many as "draconian” that was adopted as "temporary" measure 45 years ago, but became permanent in 1982.
The law has allowed the “Government of Sri Lanka to target, and harass minorities, activists, journalists and critical voices,” reads a report by Amnesty International from February 2022.
On 29 October 2024, the Director-General (Legal) at the Presidential Secretariat, Attorney at Law J M Wijebandara, appointed in September by newly elected President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, said that the problem is not the PTA as such, but its misuse to detain civil activists, journalists and others.
He went on to say that the government would not allow such misuse and that the PTA would only be applied based on "credible intelligence information, and it will not be used for political revenge".
On the same day, Cabinet Spokesperson Minister Vijitha Herath said, “There is a discussion on abolishing the PTA. We can only talk about changing the Act when the new Parliament is elected."
The government's failure to prioritise the issue has set off alarm bells in the Lawyers’ Collective. In fact, Dissanayake's National People's Power (NPP), in its August 2024 election manifesto, pledged to abolish “all oppressive acts including the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and ensuring civil rights of people in all parts of the country" (p. 129).
In the recent presidential election campaign, and even before that, the party founded by the newly elected president, had actively opposed the PTA and the abuse of the powers it allows, and had opposed new laws that were equally oppressive.
For the lawyers’ advocacy group, the recent statements are worrying. For the group, President Dissanayake must honour the commitment to repeal the PTA. The statement made on behalf of the government by Director General (Legal), Presidential Secretariat, J M Wijebandara must be unequivocally clarified, and a clear commitment to repealing the PTA be made public.
“This clarity and leadership are necessary to build public confidence that the government stands for the repeal of the PTA,” reads a statement by the group.
It “calls on all political parties to repeal the PTA in the next Parliament, which will be elected on 14 November. Parties must commit to ensure that Sri Lanka's counter-terrorism legal framework complies with human rights safeguards.”
More importantly, “If emergency measures are needed in a given situation, all emergency powers must be strictly confined to periods of a declared state of emergency. These measures will strengthen the rule of law, democracy and human rights in the country and in turn, boost confidence in governance.”
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15/11/2019 18:11
09/05/2017 19:22
