Immediate Moratorium on Prevention of Terrorism Act Called by Sri Lankan Civil Society Groups

Immediate Moratorium on Prevention of Terrorism Act Called by Sri Lankan Civil Society Groups
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa during a parliamentary session. AP Photo/ Eranga Jayawardena/ ABC News, 2020

03-12-2021

Sarah Thanawala

Sri Lanka and Human Rights Researcher, 

Global Human Rights Defence.




A joint statement was issued by civil society groups to call for repeal and an immediate moratorium, in the interim, on the use of the Prevention of Terrorism Act of 1979 (Colombo Gazette, 2021). The call was primarily in response to the statement by the Sri Lanka Consensus Collective’s (SLCC) statement that laid down proposals for reforms to the PTA by the Government (Colombo Gazette, 2021). During the meeting with SLCC, Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris, leader of the Ministerial Subcommittee on amending the PTA, refused the government’s intention to repeal the PTA and quoted “security reasons” (Tamil Guardian, 2021). 

The statement highlights that the proposed changes are, in fact, pre-existing in the law. Further, it focuses on the failure of the Act to meet international human rights standards, and the provisions that result in serious human rights violations including torture, forced confessions, arbitrary arrest and detention, and lack of due process (Colombo Gazette, 2021).  The lack of independence of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka and the need to prioritize personal liberty were some of the other issues pointed out in the statement (Colombo Gazette, 2021).  Such a call for a moratorium, backed by a detailed joint statement, marks an important move in pressurizing the Government to repeal the PTA. 

Source and further reading:

Colombo Gazette (2021, December 3). Civil society calls for immediate moratorium on use of PTA. Colombo Gazette. https://colombogazette.com/2021/12/03/civil-society-calls-for-immediate-moratorium-on-use-of-pta/  

Tamil Guardian (2021, December 1). Sri Lanka refused to repeal draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act. Tamil Guardian. https://www.tamilguardian.com/content/sri-lanka-refused-repeal-draconian-prevention-terrorism-act