Responding to the Sri Lankan government’s proposed amendments to the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act, the International Commission of Jurists has slammed the government for its “disingenuous reform attempts” and demanded a full repeal of the legislation.
“The Government of Sri Lanka is once again scrambling to do its bare minimum ahead of another UN Human Rights Council session, in an attempt to deflect focus away from its failing human rights record,” said Ian Seiderman, ICJ’s Legal and Policy Director.
He added:
“The fatally flawed PTA cannot be cured by these disingenuous reform attempts but must be entirely repealed.”
Sri Lanka’s proposed amendments come in advance of the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council in the last week of February. It also follows the passage of a damning resolution by the EU parliament which condemned the regression of human rights in Sri Lanka and noting the government’s failure to repeal the PTA as it had previously committed to. The resolution called on the European Council to investigate and prosecute war crime abuses; to suspend funding for the training of Sri Lanka’s security forces; and to suspend the favourable trading preferences granted by the GSP+ agreement.
“The PTA as it stands allows for arbitrary and indefinite deprivation of liberty of any individual, group of individuals, association, organisation or body of persons within or outside Sri Lanka suspected of a wide range of ill-defined activities that are considered unlawful under this Act” the ICJ statement reads.
The statement goes on to criticise proposed reforms noting that Clause 2 simply reduces the period a person may be detained for from 18 to 12 months whilst Clause 10 enables said individual to seek bail after 12 months.
“These amendments do not in any way address the fundamental violation, as they still allow for persons to be deprived of liberty for an entire year without being given the opportunity to be heard before a court of law” the ICJ notes.
They further highlight that Sri Lanka is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which maintains that “any person detained for whatever reason must be promptly brought before a court”.
“Prolonged pretrial detention that is not subject to judicial oversight is a clear breach of Sri Lanka’s international legal obligations” the ICJ stresses.
This is further worsened by subsection 2 of clause 10 which enables enforcement authorities to obtain an order from the High Court to keep suspects in remand custody until the end of the trial.
Seiderman adds:
“The PTA has deprived scores of victims of their right to liberty for months if not years without charge or trial and has been instrumental in the torture and ill-treatment of many under arbitrary and indefinite detention”
The ICJ also objects to Section 16 of the PTA regarding the admissibility of “confessions”, noting that it “shifts the burden of proof of coercion on to the accused”. Speaking in parliament, TNA politician MA Sumanthiran detailed how this provision enabled for the proliferation of torture by Sri Lankan authorities.
“All you had to do was beat up a fellow, or do worse, and get his signature, you have solved the crime. The real culprit is still roaming free”.
Read more here: ‘PTA cannot be amended, It must be replaced’ - M.A Sumanthiran, TNA MP
According to the International Truth and Justice Project, there have been 178 documented credible cases of torture from 2015-2018, excluding 22 individuals abroad who reported torture following the UN special investigation. Since Gotabaya Rajapaksa came to power in late 2019, at least 5 cases have been documented abroad of abduction, torture, and sexual violence of Tamils. The ITJP notes, "this likely represents the tip of the iceberg".
This issue is exacerbated by the overly broad and vague definitions of terrorism within the PTA and the lack of judicial oversight.
The ICJ further criticise that Clause 4, 12 and 5, enable suspects to challenge detention orders but this is redundant as these are constitutional safeguards to which victims are already entitled to. They further note that despite this, in practice victims are routinely denied full and confidential legal access.
They maintain that:
“Sri Lankan authorities should dispense with special regimes like the PTA and instead address terrorism through criminal procedures that comply with the rule of law”.
Read more here
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