PTA

Tamil political prisoners – some of whom have been held for up to 24 years – have been infected with coronavirus and face “imminent danger of spreading it further among them,” warned Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) leader Mavai Senathirajah, in a letter to Sri Lanka’s president this week. “In foreign countries such persons under […]

Even as petitions are collected and hands are rightfully wrung for redress regarding the arrest and detention of attorney Hejaaz Hisbullah, it is timely to recall (despite a tad unkindly) that if the attempt to push through Sri Lanka’s draft Counter-Terror Act had succeeded at the height of the ‘yahapalanaya’ years, abuse of civil liberties […]

Image: FMM convener C.Dodawatta at the press conference on 18 March 2019. MARCH 18, 2019/ Colombo, Sri Lanka. Media rights activists on Monday urged the Sri Lankan government to withdraw proposed anti-terror legislation, calling it is a set of draconian laws aimed at suppressing the media freedom and democratic rights. The new Counter-Terrorism bill approved […]

In contrast to Colombo’s largely polarized sound and fury on the Counter-Terror Bill, it is refreshing to look at the manner in which South Africa has dealt with uncannily similar dilemmas of balancing national security imperatives and constitutional rights in bringing its counter-terror law into effect more than a decade ago. Shared legacies of horrific […]

Sri Lanka’s draft Counter Terrorism Act (CTA) is not a curate’s egg of mostly good with a little bit of bad thrown in. Rather, it is the reverse. The draft Act is a whole lot of bad with some good thrown into the unappealing mixture. Ingenious traps by ‘deep state’ security agents Certainly it is […]

For several years the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) has troubled Human Rights (HR) activists as one of the most draconian pieces of Legislation on the Statute Books of the country. The Legislation which was hurriedly passed by the Legislature, included many provisions that were clearly problematic from the perspective of the Fundamental Rights of […]

Amidst the political turmoil that took place in late October 2018, it was wholly predictable that Sri Lanka’s Counter-Terrorism Bill approved by the Cabinet just the month before, quietly slipped past public scrutiny. At a time when the country’s constitutional order itself had been shaken to its (albeit not entirely steady) foundations, the Bill was […]

Gajalakshmi Paramasivam. As per news reports , Kamer Nizamdeen has declared “I’m now a free man,” . This confirms that Freedom to him is physical and not as per the law and/or Truth. As per the law Nizamdeen is on bail. As per the Truth – Nizamdeen would have been a free man inside prison also. As per […]

September 18th, 2018, Colombo, Sri Lanka: The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) notes the improved version of the Counter Terrorism Bill to repeal and replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) which has reportedly obtained Cabinet approval last week. While the process of preparing the Bill could have been much more transparent and inclusive, the final […]

Jaffna journalist Uthayarasa Shalin and five other residents of a Jaffna suburb have been summoned to Colombo by the Terrorism Investigation Department (TID). They have been summoned in connection with the display of a map of Eelam during a Hindu temple festival in Aanaikkottai, Jaffna recently. Along with the journalist, the other five, include members […]

The violation of the language rights following the enactment of Official Languages Act No. 33 of 1956, started the process of human rights violations of the Tamils of Sri Lanka which eventually led to the pogroms against them in 1958, 1977, 1983 and the massacres of 2008 -2009. 71 onwards To understand the upsurge of impunity and disappearances […]

Image: They were kept under PTA, the draconian anti-anti Terror law in Sri Lanka. The charges were filed by former Attorney General Eva Wanasundara, who is now a sitting judge of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka against two young Tamils were dismissed by Colombo High Court  on 27th March 2018. The two suspects, Kanagaratnam […]

(Geneva) – The Sri Lankan government has failed to fulfill its pledge to abolish the abusive Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. For decades, the PTA has been used to arbitrarily detain suspects for months and often years without charge or trial, facilitating torture, and other abuse. “The Sri Lankan […]

Image: This year, the mood of the visiting European delegation is certainly more irritable. ( photo credit: FT) There appears to be a brisk uptick in the tone of visiting European lawmakers to Sri Lanka this week as compared to their sojourns last year. Has realism dawned, too little, too late? In November 2016, the delegation […]

Kishali Pinto Jayawaradene. The perception that Sri Lanka’s proposed Counter-Terror Act (CTA) will affect only those of one community or another engaging in ‘terrorist’ activities and is therefore, of incidental concern to the citizenry at large is a misapprehension that is most unfortunate. CTA poses dangers beyond the PTA and the PSO Let us be […]

(New York/HRW) – Sri Lanka’s latest counterterrorism bill falls far short of the government’s pledges to the United Nations Human Rights Council to end abusive detention without charge, Human Rights Watch said today. The Cabinet approved the third draft of the Counter Terrorism Act (CTA) on May 3, 2017, but no parliamentary vote has been […]

Image: Free Trade Zone workers in Sri Lanka: Will GSP plus benefits reach them? Issuing a press release on providing GSP plus trade concessions to Sri Lanka the European Union says that ” it is also a vote of confidence from the European Union that the Sri Lankan Government will maintain the progress it has […]

Image: Resistance to repression in Venezuela. Only the naïve would believe the rosily repeated plea by the European Union (EU) that ‘the implementation of twenty seven international conventions is the only criterion for regaining’ the GSP Plus trade facility for Sri Lanka. Posing infinitely greater harm Repetition does not make what is false, true though this […]

Image: Sri Lanka police known for its brutality.  by Anurangi Singh. Senior academics, human rights activists, and judicial experts are strongly critical of the proposed policy and legal framework on the proposed CTA, a draft of which had been submitted before the Cabinet last week. Prof. Nihal Jayawickrama, former Secretary to the Ministry of Justice, […]

Issuing a statement Tamil National Alliance says it is shocked by the extent to which the draft framework curtails civil liberties, erodes judicial control over the state security apparatus and the staggering potential for abuse and torture. We are unequivocally committed to supporting a legal framework that would prevent and punish acts of terrorism in […]

Image: Right to Information includes covering conflict situations. By Namini Wijedasa. The word ‘Espionage’ dropped, but originally listed offences reintroduced. The Counter Terrorism Act policy framework approved by the Cabinet this week has reintroduced  offences originally listed under “espionage”– whilst merely removing the word “espionage” from the document. As such, the draft makes it an […]

The resolution submitted by a group of Members of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left saying that the GSP+ should not be granted to Sri Lanka, was defeated  in the European Parliament in Brussels on 27th April . The Government  has partially fulfilled the two conditions put forward by the European Union to grant GSP […]

Image: European parliament in session. In a letter addressed to PM Wickremasinghe European Parliament has put forward two specific conditions if Sri Lanka wants to regain the EU’s GSP Plus concessions. The letter had been sent to Wickremasinghe on 7th April 2017. The letter says that “we expect the Government to table legislation to replace […]

Image: Mano Tittawella at the GoSL side event, held on 1st March at Place des Nation, Geneva. President Maithripala Sirisena had issued directives that the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), Sri Lanka’s draconian anti-terror law was no longer to be used to charge suspects, Mano Tittawella, who heads the Government office coordinating reconciliation mechanisms said […]

Image: Jeyakumari Balendran who was arrested under PTA in March 2014 (and released  on 10 March 2015 continue to be under police surveillance; Vikalpa photo) Ruki Fernando. In March 2014, my colleague, Father Praveen and I were arrested and detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act by the Terrorist Investigation Department, under Sri Lanka’s authoritarian […]

Gehan Gunatilleke. A year ago, Sri Lanka promised the world that it would repeal its current Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). In a historic co-sponsored resolution, it assured the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that it would replace the PTA with counterterrorism legislation that complies with international best practices. The current PTA is described as […]

Sri Lanka’s minister of Justice Wijedasa Rajapaksa says that notwithstanding international opinion the Prevention of Terrorism Act will be used to suppress any terrorist activity in the future. Speaking at the parliament today (18 Nov) the Minister said that “ there are proposals to replace the PTA with a better law with the international standards. […]

Kishali Pinto Jayawaradene. The Government’s proposed draft on a new counter-terror law for Sri Lanka is rather like a thoroughly unpleasant case discovery. Each time that one revisits afresh, new horrors are unearthed. Several other fiendish offences Drawn reluctantly back to this document following representations from several quarters, it may be said that absorbing its […]

By Kishali Pinto Jayawaradene. Governments may come and go in Sri Lanka but the anti-reform and anti-liberties mindset seems firmly entrenched. This is now proven beyond all shadow of a doubt. The only difference therein is that of gradation. So the gullible may gladly murmur ‘this is better than what was there before.’ That, in […]

Issuing a statement “DecentLanka2015”  says that “Policy and legal framework of the proposed Counter Terrorism Act of Sri Lanka is meant to replace the much criticised and denounced Prevention of Terrorism Act (ACT) that infringes on basic human rights of the people, a collective of professionals” It further says that “With this draft ‘Counter Terrorism […]