A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Friday, May 5, 2017
Sri Lanka’s draft Counter Terrorism Act: a license for continued state oppression, intimidation and torture
A joint statement by
the Sri Lanka Campaign, Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research (Jaffna,
Sri Lanka), the International Truth and Justice Project (Johannesburg,
South Africa), People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (Washington DC,
United States of America) and Tamil Civil Society Forum (North-East Sri
Lanka)
May 4, 2017
The Sri Lankan cabinet’s approval of the new Counter Terrorism Act (CTA) is
further confirmation of the state’s unwillingness to meet its
obligations on human rights, to its citizens and the international
community.
The draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act of 1978 has been used by
successive Sri Lankan governments to quash dissent and penalize
resistance to the state. It has been employed disproportionately against
Tamils, including journalists, political activists and human rights
defenders. The PTA permits arbitrary arrests and prolonged detention
without charges being brought against suspects. Detention can, in
effect, be extended indefinitely. The national human rights commission
says 111 individuals remain in detention but the actual number of
detainees remains unknown. At least 5 people have been on remand since
1997, without their cases moving forward. One person spent 15 years in
prison before he was charged. Under the auspices of the PTA, countless
Tamils have disappeared into the prison system. Many of their fates
remain unknown. A UN Special Rapporteur visiting in May 2016 found that
severe forms of torture of detainees continued.
The current Sri Lankan government committed in UN Human Rights Council
(UNHRC) Resolution 30/1 of October 2015 to repeal the PTA and replace it
with anti-terrorism legislation in line with “contemporary
international best practice”. Subsequently, the EU Parliament Trade
Committee (INTA) wrote to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on April
7, stating their expectation that the government table legislation to
replace the PTA, in “full compliance with international standards”,
prior to the granting of the GSP+ trade concessions.
The latest draft is a failure in these respects. Rather than reining in
the PTA’s overly broad definition of terror, the CTA expands upon it,
criminalising any activities that threaten the “unity” of Sri Lanka.
Troublingly, this offense includes gathering information to supply to a
third party deemed to represent a threat to the state’s unity, as well
as using words “either spoken or understood” to negatively affect it.
Under this definition, the potential for local activists collecting and
transmitting information about human rights abuses being accused of
engaging in and being tried for terrorist activities is real. Sri
Lanka’s past history bears witness to such uses of the PTA and emergency
regulations. Calls for federalism or self-determination have been
litigated under the 6th amendment to the constitution (which similar to
the CTA criminalises speech that threatens the unity of the country) –
which in turn will have a chilling effect on free and fair debate
regarding a constitutional settlement to the ethnic conflict.
The Sri Lankan state has exploited the similarly broad language of the
PTA to crack down on activities by journalists and activists. The CTA
leaves the door open for future abuse. This is a concern not only in the
near term, with regards to the current government, but also in the long
term. A harsh and restrictive terrorism law offers a ready-made tool of
repression and intimidation for successive regimes.
It remains the position of the undersigned that any alleged terrorist
activity should be prosecuted and punished under the ordinary criminal
law of Sri Lanka. But while we demand a full repeal of the PTA, any
potential replacement to the PTA must at the very least be in line with
international standards. We call on both the Human Rights Council and
the EU not to disregard the clear signal the draft legislation sends
about Sri Lanka’s willingness to meet its obligations under HRC 30/1,
and the conditions outlined for the reinstatement of GSP+, respectively.
The government of Sri Lanka, for its part, must immediately withdraw
this legislation and – at an absolute minimum – revise its contents in
line with international standards.