A hartal is underway in the North and East to protest the government’s proposed Anti-Terrorism Act.

The hartal has been organized by several political parties, including the Illankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) and Tamil National Alliance (TNA), and civil organizations. 

TNA Batticaloa District MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam stated that the hartal has been launched to protest the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act, as well as to highlight the continued state-sponsored land grab happening in the North and East. 

All businesses and schools have closed down in support of the hartal, while public transportation has also been suspended in several parts of the North and East, including Jaffna, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Mannar, and Mullaitivu. (NewsWire)

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The new Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) proposed by the Sri Lankan parliament, designed to replace the existing Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) of 1979, threatens to further exacerbate restrictions on the right to assembly and gravely curtail freedom of expression and press freedom, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) stated. 

Issuing a statement, the IFJ said it joins its Sri Lankan affiliates, the Sri Lankan Working Journalists Association (SLWJA), the Federation of Media Employees Trade Union (FMETU), and the Free Media Movement (FMM), in strongly condemning the bill and urging Sri Lankan authorities to withdraw the proposed draft and repeal the punitive PTA.

On March 17, the Sri Lankan government announced its intention to replace the country’s current draconian terrorism act with the new ATA. The proposed legislation has been criticised by trade unions, human rights organisations, civil society, legal experts, and press freedom advocates, who have identified the bill’s potential to crack down on dissent and civic space amidst ongoing instability across the island.

The law would expand the legal definition of terrorist offences beyond international guidelines and include the infliction of serious damage to any place of public use, the obstruction of essential services, and participation in an unlawful assembly deemed by the government to be connected to ‘terrorism’. The law would also criminalise the distribution of materials or services that allow others to possess ‘terrorist publications’ and the publication of words or signs that may be understood by members of the public to conduct, encourage, or induce a terrorist offence, among many new and arbitrary charges.

Non-judicial detentions, previously only invocable by the Minister of Defence, could now be requested by a Deputy Inspector General Of Police, the third highest rank in the Sri Lanka police force. Abuses of power historically recorded under the PTA may be increased as law enforcement would be sanctioned to create ‘approved places of detention’ outside of Sri Lanka’s court structure, which has previously allowed for police torture of the arbitrarily detained. All arrests would occur before any formal charges were submitted.

The IFJ stated that under the proposed ATA, the president would have the power to invoke proscriptive orders, restricting organisations labelled ‘terrorist’ from accessing funds or maintaining membership. The president would also have the power to order curfews, declare places ‘prohibited’, instate rehabilitation programs, and obtain restriction orders that prohibit movement and activities, all conducted outside of the court system. The Attorney General may also compel those charged under the ATA to produce guilty testimonies, as the AG may relieve an individual charged under the act for up to 20 years if they conduct conciliatory actions.

The legislation has been announced after decades of local and international criticism surrounding human rights abuses, often directed towards journalists, and ethnic and religious minorities, that were conducted under the PTA by successive Sri Lankan governments. According to Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, the bill is expected to be presented to the Sri Lankan Parliament in late April and could come into law as early as May 2023.

Dharmasiri Lankapeli, the General Secretary of the FMETU, said: “This so-called Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) has provisions more draconian and tyrannical in nature compared to its predecessor PTA. […] The government has been compelled to put off the presenting of the ATA bill to Parliament due to vehement opposition by people, including lawyers’ organizations, civil organizations, trade unions, and media organizations. We, the FMETU, call on all those who uphold the values of democracy and rule of law to rally against this government’s attempt to arm itself with oppressive powers against people.”

The FMM said: “Although the national security of a country is an essential issue for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of the citizen, Free Media Movement strongly condemns the government’s imposition of laws to deprive citizens of freedom of expression and speech under the guise of national security. The Free Media Movement raised its voice against the cases where the government tried to violate the freedom of expression of the citizens through the arbitrary laws brought by the government earlier, such as the Prevention of Terrorism Act. The Free Media Movement recognizes that many of the inhuman and arbitrary clauses in the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act are preventing citizens, especially human rights activists, from expressing their free opinion and criticizing the mal behaviour of state institutions.”

The SLWJA said: “The SLWJA expresses grave concern regarding the Government of Sri Lanka’s proposed Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA). The SLWJA believes that the proposed ATA is even more dangerous than the PTA as it could label, delegitimise, and ultimately dehumanise those the government considers to be its political enemies. The SLWJA urges the Government of Sri Lanka to engage in meaningful dialogue with civil society and the international community to address the concerns regarding the proposed ATA.

The IFJ said: “The proposed Anti-Terrorist Act is a condemnable and dangerous alternative to the already flawed PTA, threatening to further undermine freedoms of expression, press, and assembly in Sri Lanka. If passed, journalists, media workers and their representative unions and organisations who are deemed critical of the Sri Lankan government face legal persecution under undemocratic and arbitrary ‘terrorist activities’. The IFJ strongly condemns the proposed ATA and urges the Sri Lankan authorities to immediately withdraw the bill and amend the existing draconian PTA.” (NewsWire)

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The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) sees the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act as a measure to protect the public, SLPP MP S.M. Chandrasena stated.

MP Chandrasena told the media that the lack of such an act allows certain groups to act in a dangerous manner which was seen during the anti-government protests last year.

He stated that this is also visible through the various protests being held by trade unions and other independent groups in the country at present.

The SLPP MP also called for the regulation of social media in Sri Lanka, stating that the current society is portraying tribal behaviour on social media.

“Our party cannot post any statement on social media. There are several comments stating ‘Rest in peace’ or ‘Myna’. Some even hinting at incidents reported during protests in April and May last year. This is tribal behaviour,” he said. 

Stating that such a society cannot move forward, S.M. Chandrasena said it was, therefore, essential to regulate social media. (NewsWire)

“When we post something on Social Media, they start commenting such as ‘Niwan Suwa’ (RIP) or ‘Maina’. Social Media must be regulated to prevent this type of tribal behavior” SLPP MP SM Chandrasena supports new anti terrorism bill pic.twitter.com/IMpag0KGUR

— NewsWire (@NewsWireLK) April 7, 2023

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The government of Sri Lanka’s proposed Anti-Terrorism Act would empower the authorities to systematically violate fundamental human rights, Human Rights Watch alleged. 

Human Rights Watch said in a statement that the government should withdraw the bill and ensure through consultations that any counterterrorism legislation upholds international human rights standards.

The government pledged to adopt an improved law following domestic and international criticism of abuses under existing counterterrorism legislation. But instead of addressing the problems, the bill would expand the definition of terrorism to include crimes such as property damage, theft, or robbery, and restrict the rights to freedom of assembly and speech.

“The proposed counterterrorism law would permit the Sri Lankan government to continue to use draconian measures to silence peaceful critics and target minorities,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The government’s crackdown on dissent and misuse of existing counterterrorism laws to arbitrarily detain protesters highlights the obvious risk of abuse.”

The Anti-Terrorism Bill, which was published on March 22, 2023, is intended to replace the notorious Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), which led to widespread torture and arbitrary detentions since its introduction in 1979. While the new bill contains some improvements, it includes provisions that will facilitate abuse. The bill appears designed to give the president, police, and military broad powers to detain people without evidence, to make vaguely defined forms of speech a criminal offense, and to arbitrarily ban gatherings and organizations without meaningful judicial oversight.

In response to criticism from Sri Lankan activists and lawyers, the United Nations Human Rights Council, foreign governments, and the European Union, successive Sri Lankan governments have repeatedly promised to repeal and replace the PTA with rights-respecting legislation.

The Anti-Terrorism Bill is largely based on proposals presented in 2018, when Sri Lanka’s current president, Ranil Wickremesinghe, was prime minister. The 2018 bill was criticized over human rights concerns and was not enacted. Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe recently expressed satisfaction with the new draft and told journalists that “we won’t make any major change to the current version.”

In 2021, the UN independent expert on human rights and counterterrorism set out five “necessary perquisites” to ensure that Sri Lanka’s counterterrorism law complies with international rights standards. They include providing an appropriate definition of terrorism, ensuring precision and legal certainty, provisions to prevent arbitrary detention, measures that adhere to the absolute prohibition on torture, and due process and fair trial guarantees including judicial oversight. The Anti-Terrorism Bill does not fully meet any of these standards, Human Rights Watch said.

Its definition of terrorism is vague and overbroad and can include peaceful protests or acts that, while criminal, do not rise to the level of any reasonable definition of terrorism. Offences include participation in certain “unlawful” assemblies if the aim is to “intimidate” the public or “wrongfully” compel the government to act in a certain way, as well as “theft” or “robbery” of government or private property, even if these acts are not intended to cause death or serious harm. The government is currently facing strikes, including by public sector workers. In 2022, the authorities used counterterrorism powers to arbitrarily detain three student leaders after widespread protests over corruption and misgovernance forced both the president and prime minister to resign.

While under the PTA, the authorities can detain a suspect for up to a year on orders signed by the defence minister, the proposed bill gives the authority to issue detention orders to deputy inspector generals of police, increasing the risk of abuse. The police could take a detainee from pretrial detention back into police custody, and the defence secretary could transfer a detainee to the custody of “any authority.” This puts suspects at greater risk of torture and other ill-treatment, as abuses under the current law demonstrate.

The proposed bill grants the police and military sweeping powers to stop, question, search, and arrest anyone, or seize any document or object without a warrant, if they believe they have “reasonable grounds.” The military, which is not trained in law enforcement, would have 24 hours to transfer a detainee to police custody, placing detainees at greater risk of abuse, it said.

Human Rights Watch pointed out that it also provides the president power to issue regulations for “rehabilitation” programs if the attorney general has decided to defer or suspend prosecution. The attorney general could then “impose” “voluntary” rehabilitation on a person who has not been convicted of any crime. In 2021, the Supreme Court stayed similar regulations. The authorities have long committed human rights violations against people accused of terrorism or of drug use, who are incarcerated without trial in government “rehabilitation” programs.

The president, on the advice of the police or military, would be authorized to declare any location a “prohibited place,” with up to three years in prison for violations. This appears to be an attempt to prevent a repetition of the largely peaceful 2022 protests in the capital, Colombo. The government had declared “high-security zones” under the Official Secrets Act, which were withdrawn following widespread condemnation.

The bill expands broad powers to criminalize speech that is “likely to be understood” as encouragement or inducement to commit or prepare for terrorism, with the burden of proof on the defendant to show that was not their intention. These offences also apply to those who publish, distribute, sell, or transmit “terrorist publications,” which could have a further chilling effect. In the past, the government has used the PTA to detain people who commemorated Tamil victims of Sri Lanka’s civil war on social media on the grounds that they were “glorifying” terrorism, which is also an offence under these proposals.

The president would be authorized to ban an organization if authorities have “reasonable grounds” to believe it is acting in a manner “prejudicial to the national security of Sri Lanka, or any other country.” In the past, the government has proscribed Tamil diaspora organizations advocating for human rights and accountability as “terrorist organizations,” and human rights organizations have faced government interference in their banking and finances on the pretext of countering “terrorist financing.”

Human Rights Watch further said the bill provides for the death penalty for the terrorism offence of murder, although Sri Lanka has observed a moratorium on executions since 1976. Sri Lanka should abolish the death penalty, which the Human Rights Watch opposes in all circumstances because of its inherent cruelty and finality.

The bill includes some new due process protections, including that confession to the police will not be admitted as evidence, and that female suspects should be searched by women officers. There are new procedures for reporting and notifying the reason for an arrest, providing access to translations of documents in a language a detainee understands, and presenting a detained person before a magistrate every 14 days. It also clarifies the procedures that a magistrate should follow if a detainee appears to have been tortured.

However, the two ostensibly independent entities proposed under the bill, the Board of Review to hear appeals against detention orders, and the Independent Review Panel to advise on the rights-respecting implementation of the law, would not be independent by law.

Human Rights Watch said until new counterterrorism legislation that upholds human rights is drafted, the government should impose a full moratorium on the use of the PTA and take steps to repeal it.

Successive Sri Lankan governments have offered repeated assurances to the EU that they would uphold rights commitments, including by repealing the PTA, in exchange for tariff-free trade access under the Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+). The trade access is conditioned to the ratification and effective implementation of key human rights treaties. In its latest monitoring report, the European Commission said that Sri Lanka “still has to deliver on a number of important reforms.”

Sri Lanka’s international partners, including the United States, EU, Japan, India, and others should press for genuine reforms to ensure this bill meets Sri Lanka’s international human rights obligations, Human Rights Watch said. The EU should make it clear that replacing the present counterterrorism law with similarly abusive legislation does not address its concerns and could affect Sri Lanka’s GSP+ status.

“The Anti-Terrorism Bill needs to be seen both in light of Sri Lanka’s abusive history of counterterrorism powers and the current government’s repression of peaceful dissent,” Ganguly said. “Sri Lanka’s international partners should make it absolutely clear that they will not reward this abuse with trade preferences and other support.” (NewsWire)

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