UN experts urge Sri Lanka to amend counter-terrorism Bill to protect human rights

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By Editor_1
A police anti-riot unit in Colombo, Sri Lanka, January 30, 2024. The proposed Prevention of Organized Crimes Bill could enable arbitrary detention, torture and other human rights violations by granting sweeping powers to law enforcement with inadequate judicial safeguards, Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned on Thursday (October 29, 2026) - Thilina Kaluthotage/NurPhoto via AP Photo/File

COLOMBO – United Nations human rights experts have urged the Sri Lankan government to immediately revise its proposed Protection of the State from Terrorism (PSTA) Bill to ensure it complies with international human rights law and safeguards fundamental freedoms.

In a joint statement, the experts welcomed the government’s proposal to repeal the 1979 Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), but warned that the new legislation still contains provisions that could enable arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearance and other serious human rights violations.

The statement was issued by Ben Saul, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism; Morris Tidball-Binz, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; Leopoldo Maldonado Gutiérrez, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; and Andrea Bolaños Vargas, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders.

It was also endorsed by members of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, including Matthew Gillett; members of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, including Grażyna Baranowska, Ana Lorena Delgadillo Pérez, Gabriella Citroni and Angkhana Neelapaijit; Margaret Satterthwaite, Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers; and the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Key recommendations

The experts said detention orders under the Bill must be subject to prompt and effective judicial oversight, including an assessment of their legality, necessity and proportionality, as well as the power to order release.

They called for a genuinely independent review body to hear appeals against detention orders and to issue binding decisions.

The experts further urged safeguards for people in custody, including access to legal counsel, interpretation, medical examinations, legal aid, contact with family members, and immediate access for the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka.

To prevent enforced disappearances and incommunicado detention, they said all transfers between places of detention must be recorded and reported.

Definition of terrorism

The experts recommended that the definition of terrorism be narrowly limited to acts intended to cause death or serious injury, and that offences involving only damage to property be excluded.

They said charges relating to freedom of expression should apply only where there is a genuine risk of inciting terrorist violence

Given Sri Lanka’s history of military abuses, the experts also called for the removal of powers allowing the armed forces to arrest, interrogate and search civilians, while strengthening civilian police powers under judicial oversight.

Safeguards and accountability

The UN experts said criteria and thresholds for proscribing organisations should be clarified and raised, with time limits imposed on proscription orders, control orders and restrictions on places.

They called for the exclusion of evidence or confessions obtained through torture or other ill-treatment, stronger protections for journalistic sources, legal professional privilege, professional confidentiality, and information relating to human rights monitoring.

The experts also said the President’s power to guide the implementation of the law should be limited, and that the PTA should not continue to be used even as an interim measure after the new law comes into force.

They urged the Government to strengthen oversight, accountability and prompt, effective remedies for human rights violations under the Bill, including release from detention, exclusion of tainted evidence, disciplinary or criminal accountability of officials, compensation, rehabilitation, apologies and guarantees of non-repetition.

Call for consultation

The experts said immunity provisions for officials who commit wrongful acts were unacceptable, and stressed that counter-terrorism measures are effective only when human rights are respected.

They asked the Government to consult civil society and other stakeholders, noting that concerns had already been raised about earlier versions of the Bill as well as recent legislative reforms, including those relating to non-governmental organisations and organised crime.

The experts said they were ready to provide technical assistance to help authorities further improve the legislation.

-economynext.com

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