Peaceful public protest is a fundamental right says NPC

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By Editor_1
A Buddhist monk being unceremoniously carried away by PPE-clad police officers, during a protest in the outskirts of Colombo on July 8. More than 40 people were arrested for staging protests in what authorities deemed were in violation of quarantine laws - Dineth Chamalka/ENCL
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COLOMBO – The National Peace Council (NPC) on Tuesday (13) reminded the government of the 27 international agreements Sri Lanka has ratified, noting that in terms of the agreements, civil society groups, such as the Ceylon Teachers Union play an important watchdog role which needs to be respected.

“Fundamental to all these is the right to express dissent in whichever legal form they choose and denial of this right is a serious violation of Fundamental Rights to which every citizen is entitled,” it said in a statement, noting that the misuse of COVID health regulations to deter public protests is totally unacceptable.

The statement in full:

Several protests by different political parties and civil society groups on grievances facing different sectors of society have been broken up by the police.  The latest was the breakup by police of a peaceful public protest by a civil society group including Joseph Stalin, head of the Ceylon Teachers Union.  The protestors, including elderly women and religious clergy, were arrested by the police on grounds of violating COVID-health guidelines. When the judge refused to send them to a distant COVID quarantine centre, the police forcibly carried them off to be transported to an army camp in the North.

 

Similar undemocratic actions have quelled other protests too, such as those against the ban on chemical fertilizers which is threatening to destroy small-scale farmers, corporation staff protesting against failure to pay salaries and environmental activists opposing the construction of a new power plant in an environmentally fragile area.   The National Peace Council holds that the misuse of COVID health regulations to deter public protests in this manner is totally unacceptable.

At the base of democracy is the right of people to dissent and when they do so peacefully they need to be protected.  As stated by the Bar Association, public protest straddles three important fundamental rights in the constitution – the freedom of speech and expression, the freedom of peaceful assembly and the freedom of association. Public protests also strengthen the freedom of thought which is entrenched as a fundamental right in the constitution.  Arresting and detaining persons who are exercising their peaceful right to protest sending them to quarantine has a chilling effect on the freedom to dissent which is fundamental to democracy.

The NPC welcomes the government’s willingness to address the issue of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) in response to the threat of withdrawal of the GSP Plus tariff concession.  However, it needs to be understood that the 27 international agreements that Sri Lanka has ratified and needs to implement for purposes of the GSP Plus are wide-ranging and include human rights, labour rights, environmental protection and also governance, including corruption.  In terms of these agreements, civil society groups, such as the Ceylon Teachers Union play an important watchdog role which need to be respected.  Fundamental to all these is the right to express dissent in whichever legal form they choose and denial of this right is a serious violation of Fundamental Rights to which every citizen is entitled.

 

 

 

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