A new report states that at least 21 people were detained under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act since the new government came into power in January this year.
The report, by the Watchdog SL organisation, said the act has continued to result in arbitrary arrest, prolonged detention without charges, long drawn out court cases, multiple cases against one suspect, inhumane detention conditions, torture, forced confessions, long years to release those who are innocent, post-release harassment and restrictions, including re-arrests.
Five people are said to have been on remand for the past 18-19 years without a resolution to their case and at least one person’s case has been ongoing since 1998, the year the person was charged. #
One person spent 15 years in remand prison before having charges filed against him and some people were remanded for 10, 8 & 6 years respectively before they were charged.
The report details case studies of Tamils who were detained under the PTA, including arrests of Tamils returning or visiting from abroad.
“The actual number in detention under the PTA is still unknown. But in January, the list of 182 persons had been compiled. This comprises only those remanded in 11 official remand prisons under the Department of Prisons. This number is definitely more, as this doesn’t include those detained at Boossa and at detention in places such as the Terrorist Investigation Department (TID) in Colombo,” Watchdog SL said.
The body highlighted Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe’s statements earlier this year, in which he said the government was not considering the repeal of the act.
See the full report here.