Coordinating Secretary to the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Geethanath Kassilingham, has been appointed as the state’s "special Rehabilitation Facilitation Officer" for the North-East as a military crackdown on the North-East intensifies.

Earlier this year Sri Lanka expanded upon its draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), which has predominately used against Tamils and allows for arbitrary detention of practices, under the guise of "deradicalisation" and to allegedly rehabilitate" individuals who hold "violent extremist ideology”.

The measure broadened the state’s powers to use the controversial PTA, which has continuously been condemned by rights groups around the world as being used to torture and enforced disappearances and/or to detain Individuals in 'rehabilitation centres' for years prior to being charged or without the benefit of a trial. 

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who also serves as the Minister of Defence, will oversee the "rehabilitation process" and will have the power to either order the release of the detainee or extend the process of the rehabilitation.

Last month, former Human Rights Commissioner, Ambika Satkunanathan, filed a fundamental rights petition in the Sri Lankan Supreme Court against the regulations. Among other criticisms, she described the issuing of these laws as potentially infringing upon a person’s fundamental rights and as being “arbitrary, capricious, irrational, disproportionate and/or ultra vires the powers of the Respondents [The Attorney General, Secretary to the Ministry of Defence and Commissioner General of Rehabilitation]”.

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