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‘In a Legal Black Hole’ – Human Rights Watch slams Sri Lanka’s PTA

Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on Sri Lanka’s international trading partners to consider imposing targeted sanctions on officials accused of rights abuses and to leverage trading schemes in order to pressure Colombo to comply with human rights obligations, in a report examining the much-criticised Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) released today.

The 59-page report slams Sri Lanka’s use of the PTA, detailing how it has been utilised to detain Tamils and Muslims and supress civil society on the island.

“Sri Lankan authorities continue to use the Prevention of Terrorism Act to sweep away targeted people’s basic rights, reneging on past government promises to repeal the law,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Proposed government changes to the PTA appear aimed to assuage the concerns of the EU and other governments, without ending abuses.”

The report notes how “twelve years since the end of the war the government is still targeting Tamils but also using the PTA against Muslims, particularly since 2019”.

“When we talk to the families of the disappeared, they say they can be arrested at any time,” said an activist working with the Tamils in the North-East. “Police are arresting people for posting pictures on Facebook. They can arrest you for anything.”

The report also highlighted Sri Lanka’s ban on Tamil diaspora organisations, which created a lot of fear,” according to a northern-based activist, “who pointed out that many mothers of victims of enforced disappearance have received funds from the designated diaspora groups to support their campaign”.

It also noted that the government’s proposed amendments to the PTA would still leave it falling far short of international standards.  “If the amendments are adopted, the PTA would still not meet any of the five “necessary prerequisites” described by seven United Nations special rapporteurs in December 2021 to comply with international human rights standards,” said HRW.

“Had the government’s proposed amendments to the PTA in January 2022 been in effect earlier, they would neither have prevented these detentions, nor given the detainees any legal recourse during the first year of their detention,” said HRW.

“The Rajapaksa administration’s abusive actions will not be addressed by its misleading proposal to amend the PTA,” Ganguly said. “The EU, United States, and United Kingdom should hold the Sri Lankan government to its international obligations and push for meaningful action to protect human rights.”

Read the full text of the report here.

 

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