Human Rights Watch Highlights EU’s ‘Historic Opportunity’ to Press Sri Lanka to Reform or Repeal the PTA 

20-12-2021 

Judit Kolbe 

Sri Lanka and Human Rights Researcher,

Global Human Rights Defence.

On the 9th of December 2021, seven United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteurs had published a joint letter calling for an immediate moratorium of Sri Lanka’s Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) (Colombo Page, 2021). The letter laid down five benchmarks, delineating ‘necessary prerequisites’ for the PTA to be compliant with Sri Lanka’s international human rights obligations, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW) (HRW, 2021). In their report, HRW pointed out the European Union’s (EU) position to make a crucial decision on the countries’ compliance with human rights obligations (HRW, 2021). The European Parliament had issued a Resolution earlier this year, asking the EU Commission to withdraw their GSP+ scheme, a trade benefit scheme of critical economic importance to Sri Lanka, which led to the EU’s review of said scheme. One of the decisive aspects of the Resolution is the demand to repeal or reform the PTA, as Sri Lanka had previously pledged to do (News First, 2021; HRW, 2021). HRW alleges that such a reform had not happened yet and that ‘[t]he EU should not allow itself to be hoodwinked by a sham PTA reform’ (HRW, 2021). The organisation furthermore highlighted the EU’s ‘historic opportunity’ to press the Sri Lankan government into meeting its human rights obligations and repealing the PTA (HRW, 2021, News First, 2021). Lastly, HRW stated that the EU should work together with other international partners, in order to act on and prevent further human rights violations (HRW, 2021). 

Sources and further reading:

Colombo Page (2021, December 17). Sri Lanka: Human Rights Watch says EU should work with international partners to prevent further abuses in Sri Lanka. Colombo Page. http://www.colombopage.com/archive_21B/Dec17_1639721452CH.php

Human Rights Watch (HRW) (2021, December 16). UN Experts Urge Reform of Sri Lanka’s Counterterrorism Law. HRW. https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/12/16/un-experts-urge-reform-sri-lankas-counterterrorism-law 

News First (2021, December 17). EU must work to prevent HR abuses in Sri Lanka. News First. https://www.newsfirst.lk/2021/12/17/eu-must-work-to-prevent-hr-abuses-in-sri-lanka-hrw/