Tamil politicians and members of Sri Lankan civil society called for the abolishment of Sri Lanka’s Prevention of Terror Act (PTA) in an interview with The Hindu on Tuesday.
A Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian, M. A. Sumanthiran, highlighting that Tamil activists were arbitrarily detained using the PTA, said,
“It is still in existence five years after the end of the war, which the government claims was against terrorism. We demand that it be repealed immediately. It was the existence of such an act that made the detention of Ms. Jeyakumari and several others without charges possible."
The leader of the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF), G.G. Ponnambalam, added that the government had detained enforced disappearances activist Jeyakumari for fear that she would testify to the ongoing international probe into Sri Lanka, where enforced disappearances had become a key issue.
The executive director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives, P. Saravanamuttu, labelling the PTA as an “absolutely scandalous” legislation, added,
“It goes against everything we understand to be reconciliation, national unity.”
The Tamil politicians made comments after attending a protest held by “#FreeJeyakumary” campaigners in Colombo on Monday.
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