This week a Jaffna court ordered the complete release of five Tamils who had been detained for 93 days after the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) notified the court that there were 'no charges to file against them'.
The five Tamils had been arrested by the TID on charges of 'trying to recreate the LTTE' and had then been subsequently detained for 93 days without charge under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). Four of those detained were from Jaffna and one was from Mullaitivu.
Former commissioner of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, Ambika Satkunanathan highlighted the abuse of power that the PTA has granted to Sri Lankan state forces.
#PTA. Arrest first & investigate later.
After 93 days 5 persons were released with no charges filed.
If TID had investigated before arresting wouldn’t they have known there was no reason to arrest them? https://t.co/QoT3pYOOnT
— Ambika Satkunanathan (@ambikasat) July 19, 2021
Sri Lanka a country of torture
The law was brought to pass in 1979 and has facilitated the arbitrary detention and torture of thousands of Muslims and Tamils on the island. Since coming to power in 2019, Gotabaya Rajapaksa has stepped up a brutal campaign to squash Tamil and Muslim dissent on the island. The UN resolution and scathing report by the human rights chief who warned of the sowing of ‘seeds of violence’, have not hindered the regime. Instead in recent weeks, the expansion of the draconian PTA under the guise of “deradicalization” has led to the detention of over a dozen Tamils and Muslims so far. In addition, a number of Tamil and Muslim organisations have also been proscribed by the state, with little or no explanation, alongside hundreds of individuals.
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